Nehru Children's Literary Prize

What is the Nehru Children's Literary Prize?

The Nehru Children's Literary Prize is an annual literary award given by the Department of Art and Culture, Government of Puducherry. The prize honours books of children's literature written in Tamil and carries a cash award of Rs 10,000 together with a certificate. According to the department's awards page, two awards are given each year.

The prize is listed by the department under the head "Improvement of Official Language and Linguistic Studies", the same head that funds seminars, language training and the honouring of writers. Its purpose is narrow and clear: to encourage writers to produce good original Tamil books for children, a category that publishers in the union territory have historically found hard to sustain commercially.

The award is often written as the "Nehru Child Literature Prize" in English listings and as Nehru siRuvar ilakkiya parisu in Tamil. All three names refer to the same award of the Puducherry Directorate of Art and Culture.

The prize sits inside a family of literary and cultural awards run by the same department. Readers comparing them should note the scale. Tamil Mamani carries Rs 75,000 and is confined to scholars aged 60 and above, with six awards. Puduvai Kalaimamani carries Rs 50,000 across art, literature, dance and music for people aged 30 and above. The Tholkappiar Award carries Rs 10,000 for outstanding research publications in Tamil. The Kamban Pugazh Literary Prize carries Rs 10,000 across ten awards in Tamil literature. The Nehru Children's Literary Prize is the only one of the set reserved specifically for writing addressed to children.

Who is eligible for the Nehru Children's Literary Prize, and who is not?

You can enter if:

• You are the author or writer of the book being submitted.
• The book is written in Tamil.
• The book is children's literature, written for a child readership rather than for adults.
• The book was published during the calendar year under consideration for that round of the award.
• You are a native of Puducherry, or you have resided continuously in the union territory for at least five years.

You cannot enter if:

• The book is in a language other than Tamil. The prize as notified covers Tamil children's literature only.
• The book is an adult novel, a school textbook, an academic monograph or a guide. These are not children's literature for the purpose of the prize.
• The book was published in an earlier year and falls outside the year under consideration.
• You are neither a native of Puducherry nor able to show five continuous years of residence in the union territory. A writer settled in Chennai or Coimbatore is not eligible on the strength of Tamil authorship alone.
• You are a publisher or an illustrator entering on your own account rather than the author. The award is made to the author or writer.

Translations occupy an uncertain space. The award as described covers books published in Tamil on children's literature, and the department has not published a rule expressly admitting or excluding translated work. If you are entering a Tamil translation of a book first written in another language, ask the Directorate in writing before you submit.

What does a winner actually receive?

A winner receives Rs 10,000 in cash and a certificate recording the award. The cash is paid by transfer into the author's own bank account, so an active account and a legible passbook copy are part of the paperwork.

Two awards are made each year, which means the field is genuinely competitive but not enormous. There is no recurring payment, no royalty component and no publication subsidy attached: the prize is a one-time recognition of a completed book.

Winners are usually announced and honoured at a departmental cultural function. The Directorate also maintains a published list of awardees on its website, so past winners can be checked before entering.

How to apply for the Nehru Children's Literary Prize

The award runs offline through the Directorate of Art and Culture. There is no online submission portal for it.

1. Watch for the annual call. The Department of Art and Culture announces the round through its notice board on art.py.gov.in and through notices in local Tamil newspapers. Because the department does not publish a standing last date, checking the notice board periodically is the only reliable way not to miss the window.
2. Collect the entry form. Take the prescribed form free of cost from the Directorate of Art and Culture, Puducherry, or download it from the applications section of the department's website.
3. Get your nativity or residence certificate ready. This comes from the Revenue Department and takes time. Start it before the call is announced if you intend to enter.
4. Prepare the book copies. Submit copies of the published book as required by the form. Ensure the title page or the publisher's certificate clearly shows the year of publication, since the year decides admissibility.
5. Fill in the entry form and attach the enclosures; book copies, nativity or residence certificate, photo identity proof, bank passbook copy and passport photographs. List the enclosures on the covering page.
6. Submit to the Directorate of Art and Culture, Puducherry. Writers based in Karaikal, Mahe or Yanam may submit through the office of the Regional Administrator concerned, who forwards the entry.
7. Take a dated acknowledgement. Keep the inward number; it is what you will quote if you need to follow up.

How is the winner selected, and how do you check on your entry?

Entries are placed before a selection committee constituted by the Department of Art and Culture. The committee assesses the literary quality of the book, its suitability for children and its originality, and recommends the two awards for the year. The department then issues the sanction and announces the winners.

To check on an entry, contact the Directorate of Art and Culture, Puducherry, quoting the inward number and the date of submission. Entries lodged in Karaikal, Mahe or Yanam should be traced first with the Regional Administrator's office that received them. Results are published as a list of awardees on the department's website rather than communicated individually to unsuccessful entrants.

Why do entries get rejected?

• Wrong publication year. The single commonest reason. Confirm the year on the title page matches the year the round covers.
• Not children's literature. A book that is really a general anthology or a school reader is set aside at scrutiny.
• Residence not proved. A Puducherry address on the book jacket proves nothing. Submit the nativity or residence certificate.
• Incomplete set of book copies. Send the number of copies the form asks for; short submissions are returned.
• Entry sent by the publisher instead of the author. The award is to the author, and the entry should be in the author's name with the author's bank details.
• Missing bank details. The prize cannot be released without an account in the author's name, so an entry with no passbook copy stalls even after selection.

Where do you get help or complain?

• Contact the Director, Department of Art and Culture, Government of Puducherry for questions about the call, the form and the enclosures.
• Writers in the outlying regions may approach the Regional Administrator, Karaikal, Mahe or Yanam.
• A grievance that gets no response can be lodged on CPGRAMS at pgportal.gov.in, selecting the Government of Puducherry and the Art and Culture Department, and tracked with the registration number issued.

No fee is payable to anyone at any stage of this award, and no agent can influence the selection committee. Treat any demand for money as a matter to report to the Directorate.