DHAKA: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday handed over ‘Ekushey Padak’ to 15 noted poets, fiction and non-fiction writers and in various other sectors for their contribution in different sectors of country and society.

The programme started at 11:00am at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium of the city.

The Premier handed over the prizes of Tk one lakh and a medal of 35-gm gold to each of 15 winners of this year after a short introduction of each of them.

Of the 15 winners, three were posthumously awarded with the Ekushey Padak.

The recipients are Shamsul Huda and Dr Badrul Alam (posthumous) for language movement, Shamorjit Roy Chowdhury, Ramkanai Das, Keramot Maula and SM Solaiman (posthumous), Golam Sarwar in Journalism, Dr Enamul Haque in research, Dr Anupam Sen in education, Jamil Chowdhury, Belal Chowdhury, Rashid Hayder, Biprodas Barua and Abdus Sakur (posthumous) for language and literature and Dr Mujibur Rahman for social service.

With Cultural Affairs minister Asaduzzaman Noor in the chair, secretary of the ministry Dr Ranjit Kumar Biswas and cabinet secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan addressed the occasion.

BDST: 1230 HRS, FEB 20, 2014