Cuttack, March 5: Seventy-one-year-old litterateur Ratnakar Chaini will get the Sahitya Bharati Samman for 2016 for his contribution to Odia literature.

The award, instituted by Gangadhar Rath Foundation in 1995, carries a cash award of Rs 1 lakh and a silver emblem of the Konark Temple.

Foundation secretary Susmita Rath said: "Chaini was chosen for his outstanding contribution to Odia literature in the form of more than 60 publications which include numerous plays and short stories." The award will be conferred at an event in Cuttack on March 19.

Chaini, a writer and academician, had carved out a niche for himself in Odia literature for his striking modernism. Some of his notable creations include Jivana Kamarashala, Santha Kabi, Achyutananda, Niraba Kolahala, Kabi Gopalkrushna, Asha Brundabana, Surjyasta Upabana, Katha Lalita, Achyutananda Gitabali and Ajira Galpa.

The foundation will also confer the Bhanujee Rao Smaraki Puraskar and the Binapani Mohanty Katha Sahi-tya Purashkar carrying a cash award of Rs 25,000 each to poet Saroj Ranjan Mohanty and short story writer Golap Manjari Kar. The Subrata Rath Smaraki Purashkar will be given to Kamala Sathpathy and Sushant Kumar Nayak.