The West Bengal Government conferred the Banga Samman 2015 to 35 stalwart and legends in different fields at a gala programme held at Nazrul Mancha. In the presence of the Hon’ble Governor of West Bengal, Shri Keshari Nath Tripathi, West Bengal Chief Minister handed over the Banga Bibhushan and Banga Bhusan awards to 35 stalwarts.
The programme started with the lighting of the ceremonial lamp by the Hon’ble Governor of West Bengal, the West Bengal Chief Minister and the dignitaries present on stage.
The West Bengal Chief minister said that she was honoured by the presence of the stalwarts like Girija Devi, Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Manilal Nag and others who had kindly accepted the humble gesture of appreciation from the West Bengal Government.
While handing over Banga Bibhusan award to the kins of the legendary vocalist and Bangaldeshi citizen Firoja Begam, the West Bengal Chief Minister said that legends cannot be bounded by international boundaries. She said that it t is a great achievement for the Government that it could felicitate the legends. Their presence on the day have made all proud, she said.
The West Bengal Chief Minister said that May 20, 2015 is the 4th anniversary of the present Government and dedicated this day to the Maa Mati Manush of Bengal.
Personalities conferred with Banga Bibhushan:
• Posthumous award to Firoja Begum, legendary vocalist
• Ramkrishna Mission
• Bharat Sevshram Sangha
• Abdul Rashid Khan, noted vocalist
• Girija Devi, noted vocalist
• Manilal Nag, noted instrumentalist
• Buddhadeb Dasgupta, noted instrumentalist
• Shankar Ghosh, noted Tabla exponent
• Gen Shankar Roy Chowdhury, ex Chief of Army Staffs
• Kabir Suman, noted songwriter and singer
• Rashid Khan, noted vocalist
• Dibyendu Palit, noted litterateur
• Syed Naeemuddin, noted ex-football captain and coach
• Satyabrata Ganguly, noted industrialist
• Sanjeev Goenka, noted industrialist
• Venkatesh Films, noted film institution
• Leander Paes, world acclaimed tennis ace
• Lyangsong Tamang, noted social worker
• Manohar Aich, body builder and ex Mr Universe
• Rampada Chowdhury, noted litterateur
Banga Bhusan Samman were conferred upon:
• Al Ameen Mission, noted education and social service institute
• Tejendra Narayan Majumdar, noted instrumentalist
• Subodh Sarkar, noted poet
• Dr Subrata Moitra, noted medical practitioner
• Dr Tridib Banerjee, noted medical practitioner
• Dipak Adhikari (Dev), popular actor
• Shoojit Sorcar, noted filmmaker
• Koushik Ganguly, noted filmmaker
• Nima Wangdi Sherpa, noted social worker
• Kartik Das Baul, noted Baul artiste
• Kalyanbrata Chakraborty, noted Indologist
• Surya Sekhar Ganguly, noted chess player and GM
• Laxmiratan Shukla, noted cricketer
• Manoj Tewari, noted cricketer
• Tushar Shil, noted body builder and Yoga exponent
On her Facebook page the Chief Minister wrote:
” Today, in a glittering ceremony at Nazrul Mancha, the state’s highest civilian awards, Bangabibhusan and Bangabhusan, were conferred on 35 awardees for outstanding work in social work, music, arts, culture, literature, industry, medicine, sports, entertainment and service.
The musical presentation after the awards ceremony captivated the audience with joyous melody and it was enjoyed by everyone present on the occasion.
We are proud of our great performers.
My best wishes to everyone.”