Balangir: Senior IAS officer and poet Bishnupada Sethi will be conferred with this year's Bhima Bhoi Sruti Samman at a function organised by the Bhima Bhoi Samadhipitha Trust at the Magha Mela at Khaliapali in Sonepur district on Tuesday.

Sethi will be honoured for his literary creations, especially his poems. He is posted as the special relief commissioner.Sethi, an accomplished poet, has remained an ardent follower of Mahima dharma, the philosophy, which the saint poet preached. Sethi has published three books of his poetry collections - Where Shall I Go, My World of Words and Beyond Feelings. The first one Where Shall I Go, published in 2005, became so popular that it was translated in Urdu and Odia.

Trustee Chhatradhari Agrawal said Sethi had been a source of strength for all those, who strived to work for the Mahima dharma.

"Sethi has helped us in his own way for the development of Bhima Bhoi Samadhipitha. His articles on the saint poet and his own poems speak volume for his versatility as a writer," Agrawal said.

Agrawal further said Mahima Samman would be conferred on Mahima dharma follower Milu Tandy, while Bhima Bhoi Kala Samman will be conferred on painter Shyam Sundar Meher. "The Bhima Bhoi Sahitya Samman will be conferred on researcher Braja Mohan Dani," he said.

Sethi while serving as the district collector of Sonepur gave a facelift to the sadhanapitha(a complex where Bhima Bhoi wrote poetry), which was in a dilapidated state. It was due to his initiative the trust came into existence.