New Delhi, 28 Feb (IANS): The general council of the Sangeet Natak Akademi has unanimously elected six eminent personalities from the field of performing arts as Akademi Fellows (Akademi Ratna).

These personalities are Vinayak Khedekar, R. Visweswaran, Sunayana Hazarilal, Raja & Radha Reddy, Dulal Roy and D.P. Sinha.

The General Council also selected 92 personalities from the fields of music, dance, theatre, traditional/folk/tribal music, puppetry and for their overall contribution to performing arts for the Sangeet Natak Akademi award (Akademi Puraskar) for the years 2022 and 2023.

The honour of Akademi Fellow carries a purse of Rs 3 lakh, while the Akademi Award carries a purse of Rs 1 lakh, besides a Tamrapatra and Angavastram.

The Fellowship of the Akademi is a prestigious and rare honour, which is restricted to 40 at any given time.

The Ministry of Culture said that the fellows and the awardees so selected represent the nation as a whole, and belong to different states and Union Territories.

Besides, these eminent artistes cover the entire gamut of the performing arts forms expressed in the form of music, dance, drama, folk and tribal art, puppetry and allied theatre art forms etc.

The General Council of the Akademi has also selected 80 young artistes for the Sangeet Natak Akademi Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar for the years 2022 and 2023.

The Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar carries a purse of Rs 25,000, along with a Tamrapatra and Angavastram.

The Sangeet Natak Akademi fellowships and awards will be conferred by the President of India at a special investiture ceremony.

The Akademi Awards have been conferred since 1952. These honours not only symbolise the highest standard of excellence and achievement, but also recognise sustained individual work and contribution.