New Delhi, Sep 9 (IANS): A society makes progress when emphasis is laid on the study of literature, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said Tuesday, and asked the Publications Division to compile the works of BJP ideologue Deendayal Upadhyaya.

Presenting the Bharatendu Harishchandra Awards for 2011 and 2012 at a function here, Javadekar said the Publications Division should give priority to publishing books that inspire society.

"The society where literature grows and flowers, that society makes progress," he said.

He said the Publications Division, a unit of the information and broadcasting ministry, was the largest publisher of Gandhian literature and preserved all written words of the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi.

Javadekar said Upadhyaya, who is considered one of the guiding lights of the Bharatiya Janata Party, had given the country the concept of "Antyodaya" (reaching out to the last man).

"He (Upadhyaya) was a thinker. He has written a lot. All his works should also be collected. We will do it," Javadekar said.