Mehdi Hasan Khan, the creator of Avro Keyboard among 14 distinguished individuals and one institution have been awarded Ekushey Padak 2025.

He is being honoured with the prestigious award for his remarkable contribution to making Bangla typing easier.

In 2003, he developed Avro Keyboard, a free and open-source software supporting Unicode and ANSI for Bangla writing. His innovation revolutionized Bangla typing on computers, benefiting individuals and institutions alike. Avro quickly gained popularity due to its open-source nature and customizable layout features.

For his contributions, Mehdi Hasan Khan received the BASIS Award in 2011 for excellence in the IT sector. The Ekushey Padak 2025 is recognition of his years of dedication.

Born and educated in Bangladesh, he completed his secondary education at Ideal School and College, followed by higher secondary at Notre Dame College. 

He later earned an MBBS degree from Mymensingh Medical College.

The Ministry of Cultural Affairs announced the names of this year’s Ekushey Padak recipients on Thursday, with Cultural Affairs Adviser Mostofa Sarwar Farooki making the official declaration.

BDST: 2048 HRS, FEB 06, 2025
MSK