Hindustani Academy

Hindustani Academy, situated in Prayagraj, was founded by the Government of the United Province on 22 January 1927. The inauguration ceremony took place on 29 March 1927, in Lucknow, with the then Governor William Morris presiding over the event. Hindustani Academy was founded with the assistance of the then Education Minister of the United Provinces, Rajeshwar Bali, Pandit Yajnanarayan Upadhyay from Banaras, Hafiz Hidayat Hussain and Tej Bahadur Sapru. Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru served as the first president of the Hindustani Academy. It had its first council comprising writers like Premchand, Ayodhya Prasad Upadhyay, and Shyam Sundar Das. After Sapru, Rai Rajeshwar Bali, Dr. Ramkumar Verma, Dr. Jagdish Gupt, Dr. Yogendra Pratap Singh, Justice Dr. Surendranath Dwivedi, Justice Kamalakant Verma, Kailash Gautam, and others have served as the president of the Hindustani Academy. In the past, the academy hosted prominent Hindi and Urdu writers like Munshi Premchand, Rahul Sankrityayan, Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi, Mahadevi Verma, Firaq Gorakhpuri, Jagadish Gupta in open discussions and talks. == Library ==

A large library is situated at the Hindustani Academy where ancient books, literary works, and manuscripts are preserved. == Activities ==

Literary awards Hindustani Academy encourages writers by awarding national and state-level honors. At the national stage, it presents the Guru Gorakhnath Shikhar Samman (₹5,00,000), Goswami Tulsidas Samman (₹5,00,000), and Sant Kabir Das Samman (₹4,00,000) for literary contributions in early Hindi literature, Bhakti-era literature, and contributions to the Nirguna Bhakti tradition, respectively. At the state level, the academy presents awards such as the Bharatendu Harishchandra Samman (₹2,00,000), Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi Samman (₹2,00,000), Mahadevi Verma Samman (₹1,00,000), Firaq Gorakhpuri Samman (₹1,00,000), Bhikhari Thakur Bhojpuri Samman (₹1,00,000), Banadas Awadhi Samman (₹1,00,000), Kumbhandas Brajbhasha Samman (₹1,00,000), and Isuri Bundeli Samman (₹1,00,000). It also recognizes young writers with an award named Hindustani Academy Yuva Lekhan Samman of 11,000 rupees. == Controversies ==

The appointment of Sunil Jogi as the chairman of the Hindustani Academy in April 2013 stirred controversy, as literary associations questioned his alleged lack of significant contributions to the field of literature and raised concerns about the selection process and Jogi's suitability for the role. A signature campaign was launched by three writers' associations, the Progressive Writers' Association (PWA), Janvadi Lekhak Sangh (JLS) and Jan Sanskrit Manch. == References ==