(From left) Sukant Som, Ramanand Jha Raman, Tarakant Jha and Digambar Mishra Diwakar at the seminar at Vidyapati Bhavan in Patna on Monday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, Dec. 13: Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi, and Chetna Samiti, Patna, organised a two-day seminar to mark the birth centenary of renowned Maithili and Hindi poet Baidyanath Mishra ‘Yatri’, also referred to as Nagarjuna.

The event is being organised on Vidyapati Bhavan premises.

Inaugurating the seminar today, chairman of Bihar Legislative Council, Tarakant Jha said: “Maithili should be promoted at the maximum level. Writers should incorporate Maithili words in their books. The present government is ready to extend financial support to Maithili writers. Their problems should be brought up before the government.”

Dr Digambar Mishra Diwakar, director, AN Sinha Institute of Social Studies presided over the inaugural function. Diwakar said: “Maithili textbooks should be used in technical education courses such as engineering and medical.”

Chief guest and writer Sukant Som said: “In his writings, Yatri used to deal with characters who were poor and represented the weaker section of the society. In the present situation too, the scene has not changed and they need to be taken care of.”

A vote of thanks was proposed by the secretary of Chetna Samiti, Vivekanand Thakur. He said: “It’s important to complete the work and dreams of Yatri. By following his principles, we can think of a better society.”

Thakur said that both Sahitya Akademi and Chetna Samiti were started in 1954. While the Sahitya Akademi was started on March 12, 1954, Chetna Samiti was formed on July 18, the same year.

Representative of Maithili in Sahitya Akademi Vidyanand Jha Vidit said: “Nagarjuna was the founder of Chetna Samiti and he only coined its name. It’s after 56 years that both Sahitya Akademi and Chetna Samiti have organised a function together.”

Two sessions were held today on the first day of the event. In the second session, writer Taranand Viyogi said: “The works of Yatri cannot be explained in a seminar. The situation today is such that Maithils don’t know how to write Maithili. The culture is losing its roots even in villages and the dialect is sparingly being spoken. Maithils are known for their academic excellence. We should not forget that due to globalisation, languages are at risk and we have to see to it that Maithili is spoken regularly and by more and more people.”

Devendra Kumar Devesh, sub-editor, Sahitya Akademi, said that there would be a book exhibition-cum-sale during the two-day event. Devesh added: “During the two-day event and also at the book fair, buyers will get a 50 per cent discount on all Maithili books and 40 per cent discount on English writings of Rabindra Nath Tagore on the occasion of his 150th birth anniversary.”