Akademi Awards are the most prestigious literary awards in India. Sahitya Akademi Award [the Award carries the prize money of ₹ 1 lakh and citation], awarded to the most outstanding book(s) of literary merit published in the 24Indian languages recognized by the Akademi. Bhasha Samman [the Awardcarries the prize money of ₹ 1 lakh and citation] is given to writers/ scholars /editors collectors/performers/translators who have made a considerable contribution to the propagation and enrichment of languages that have not been recognized by the Akademi in addition to stellar contributions to the research into classical and medieval literature of the country, Translation Prize [the Awardcarries the prize money of ₹ 50,000 and citation] is given to outstanding translations in all the 24 languages recognized by the Akademi, Bal SahityaPuraskar [the Award carries the prize money of ₹ 50,000 and citation] is given to outstanding contributions to children’s literature in 24 languages and YuvaPuraskar [the Award carries the prize money of ₹ 50,000 and citation] is given to young Indian writers in 24 languages, are the awards instituted by the Akademi. The Akademi organizes Festival of Letters every year to celebrate Indian writing.
Sahitya Akademi promotes Tribal and Oral Literature in the country through its Centre for Tribal and Oral Literature in Delhi and North-East Centre for Oral Literature in Imphal. The Akademi also confers Fellowships on eminent Indian writers and foreign scholars who have served Indian literature. Monographs on Indian writers (MIL), encyclopaedias, anthologies, archives of Indian literature, national bibliography of Indian literature, encyclopaedia of Indian poetics and histories of Indian literature are some of the major projects undertaken by the Akademi.
The Akademi also organizes cultural exchange programmes with different countries and sends and receives several writers’delegations every year besides taking part in literary festivals and book fairs abroad. Sahitya Akademi Library in New Delhi is one of the very few multilingual libraries which cater solely to literature. With a rich collection of books on literature and literary traditions in 24 recognized Indian languages, this library is one of its kind. In addition to this library, Sahitya Akademi has libraries in its regional offices in Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru. A total number of registered members of Sahitya Akademi Library is 13,219; a total number of books in the library is 1,72,000 and the library attracts about 150 members every day. For better dissemination of literature in all the twenty-four recognized Indian languages, Sahitya Akademi annually participates in about 180 book fairs and exhibitions across the country.
