No significant Govt assistance: Akademi awardee
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, September 03 2022: While remarking that there has been barely any assistance from the government with regard to the development of Manipuri Khorirol (Sahitya/Literature); Sahitya Akademi awardee Lamabam Biramani has said that the Manipuri literature has been brought up to its current state all due to the efforts and sacrifices of authors and literature enthusiasts.

He made the statement while speaking as chief guest of the inaugural function of a poetry recitation and a quiz competition organised as part of the 35th Foundation Day of Writers' Forum, Imphal at Manipur Hindi Parishad hall, here, on Saturday.

During the function, 15 books for children published by National Book Trust (NBT) and translated into Manipuri language (Meetei Mayek) along with a short story book, 'Nungsibagi Mang' penned by Ranbir Sarungbam were released by the dignitaries.

In his speech, Lamabam Biramani said that Manipuri literature has not received any significant assistance from the government till date.

Although the government claims to have done so, no one knows how it was provided.

The cash prizes for the competition were sponsored by Poknapham daily and members of the Forum.

It would not be wrong to say that Manipuri literature is able to stand tall today due to the efforts of writers and literature enthusiasts and bodies like the Forum, he stated.

Recalling that poetry recitation and storytelling competitions used to be quite popular at one time; Biramani pointed out that as the popularity has now died down, the students lack the taste of literature, which is key in the development of the same.

Often times, only folktales (Phunnga Wari) are considered children stories, which is a wrong assumption, he said and lauded the translation of 15 books for children into Manipuri language (Meetei/Mayek), adding that this will be of great help to the children.

Writers' Forum, Imphal president Keisam Priyokumar said that the competitions, which could not be held in the last 3 years due to the Covid pandemic, resumed from this year and the poetry recitation and quiz competition were held as part of the first phase.

He then expressed his gratitude to all the participating students and teachers for making the event a grand success.

During the programme, Manipur University associate professor Dr Wahengbam Kumari Chanu spoke in con nection with the 100th birth anniversary of the Forum's first president Thoibi Devi.

Later, the top three prizes for the poetry recitation were awarded to Gary Rajkumar (Shishu Nistha Niketan), Leishangthem Thoi (Langmeidong High School) and Laishram Jina (KM Blooming Secondary School), who won first, second and third place respectively.

The first, second and third position in the quiz competition were awarded to Nitish Keisam (CC Higher Secondary School), Ningthoukhongjam Rahul (Standard Robarth Higher Secondary School) and Kongbam Rasheshwori (Ibotonsana Girls' Higher Secondary School).

Consolation prizes were also given to the 4th and 5th position holder in both the competitions.

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