About:
- The Sahitya Akademi instituted Bhasha Samman in 1996 to be given to writers, scholars, editors, collectors, performers or translators in recognition of their significant contributions in the field of Classical and Medieval Literature and also in languages not formally recognised by the Akademi.
- The Samman carries a plaque alongwith an amount equal to its awards for creative literature, i.e. rupees 1,00,000.
- The Sammans are given to 3-4 persons every year in different languages on the basis of recommendation of experts' committees constituted for the purpose.
Winners of 2017 and 2018:
- Classical and medieval literature:
- Yogendra Nath Sharma (North Zone, 2017)
- G Venkatasubbiah (South zone; 2017)
- Gagendra Nath Das (Eastern zone, 2018)
- Shailaja Bapat (Western zone, 2018)
- Unrecognized languages:
- Haldhar Nag and Prafulla kumar Tripathy (Koshali-Sambalpuri language, 2017)
- Nengsong (Paite Language, 2017)
- Harikrishna Dwivedi and Shamim Sharma (Hariynavi Language, 2018)
