Agartala, Jan 26 (PTI) Eminent Kokborok litterateur Naresh Chandra Dev Varma on Monday said his nomination for the Padma Shri award was a recognition of his literary journey spanning five decades.
Dev Varma, a retired government official, is among the 113 Padma award recipients whose names were announced by the Centre on the eve of Republic Day.
“I don’t claim I have done enough for literature, especially in Kokborok, the language of most of the 19 tribes in Tripura, but I tried my level best to nurture literary works in the tribal language,” he told PTI on Monday.
Eighty-one-year-old Dev Varma was born in the obscure village of Bishramganj in the undivided West Tripura district and shifted to Agartala after class 10 examinations.
“I completed my graduation from Calcutta University because at that time, the state had no varsity. After that, I joined government service at the Tripura Assembly and retired as a joint secretary-level officer,” he said.
The father of two daughters had started literary work alongside government job at the age of 30.
“My literary work spanning over 50 years started receiving recognition a few years back, as I got nine government awards for my contribution to research on Kokborok as well as Bengali. In 2024, I was conferred with the prestigious Tripura Bhushan, the second-highest award of the state government,” he said.
“I am happy that my hard work has now been nationally recognised through the Padma Shri award,” Dev Varma, who has written as many as 34 books mostly in the Kokborok language, said.
When asked about the controversy on the script for the Kokborok language, he refused to make any comment but said he reads and writes Kokborok in the Bengali script.
Taking to social media, Chief Minister Manik Saha said on Sunday, “Heartiest congratulations to Naresh Chandra Dev Varma ji on being conferred with the prestigious Padma Shri for his exemplary contributions to Kokborok literature and education.” “In recognition of his outstanding service, the Government of Tripura honoured him with the Tripura Bhushan Award in 2024. Tripura is immensely proud of you,” Saha added. PTI PS ACD
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