‘Atal Samman’ for 13 Vidarbha achievers

Nagpur: Thirteen people from Vidarbha, who devoted life for the betterment of the society, were felicitated with ‘

Atal Samman

’ by Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari at a function organized by Amrutdhara at Suresh Bhat Hall, Reshimbagh, on Thursday.

The awards were given to mark the birth anniversary of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee celebrated on December 25. The awards were for those who followed Vajpayee’s versatility, like impacting the world and inspiring generations with their works.

The lifetime achievement award was bestowed on senior RSS ideologue and journalist MG Vaidya.

People from varied fields like art, singing, education, sports and social work, besides others. Those who were honoured included violinist Prabhakar Dhakde, Mubarak Syed, Sangeeta Sawalakhe, Bhau Kane, Anant Wagh, Suchita Solanke, Ganraj Patil, Madhav Kotasthane, Gopal Thosar, Haribhau Lonkar and Abhishek Thaware.

Those present were mayor Nanda Jichkar, guardian minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule and social justice minister Rajkumar Badole.

Gadkari said, “There are countless people in Vidarbha, coming from different walks of life, who are tirelessly working for the betterment of the society. I feel honoured to have felicitated some of them and wish them good health so that they could continue their work.”

Singer Mugdha Vaishampayan, music director and composer Ajit Parab and their team presented a song ‘Daravar Atal Bihari’. Disha Desai performed a dance on Ganesh Vandana. Vaishampayan sang ‘Geet nahi gaata hu’ while Parab presented ‘Geet naya gaata hu’, based on Vajpayee’s poem.

(Reporting by

Manshika Vaikkath)