With no winner in the English language category once again, the Sahitya Akademi Awards have litterateurs crying fowl

The second-highest literary award in the country to be conferred by the Government of India, the Sahitya Akademi Awards, recently announced this year's winners. Interestingly, mirroring last year, there has been no winner announced in the English language category this year too.

While the President of the Sahitya Akademi, veteran Bengali author Sunil Gangopadhyay, speaking exclusively to After Hrs, says that the jury deciding upon the winners informed him that "there were no books found in this category that were up to the standard," naturally the results have littérateurs crying fowl.

According to Gangopadhyay, the only criterion to be eligible for a shortlist for this award is that the author needs to hold an Indian passport, and the literary work in question should be published in the last five years since the time the jury goes to work. Gangopadhyay himself has been surprised that despite the past few years having been excellent for Indian authors writing in English at both national and international levels, it does not tell in the Akademi results. "Yes, the fact that even last year the jury did not find a deserving book in the English language category is a concern for me. But since the selection procedure headed by Dr Alok Bhalla in Delhi is a discreet process, despite being the President of this organisation, I could not voice my opinion."

He was rooting personally for Aravind Adiga's White Tiger and Kunal Basu's The Japanese Wife for the award. "I feel this issue needs immediate attention, and I will personally make sure that next year at least we have a representation in the English language category."