The Award function was attended by Chairman of The Bengal, Hari Mohan Bangur, President of The Bengal, Nabaneeta Dev Sen, and Working President of The Bengal, Jogen Choudhury, along with a host of eminent dignitaries, consul members and guests.

“The Sunil Gangopadhyay Memorial Award was instituted in 2012 by The Bengal, a Kolkata-based leading non-governmental organization, following the demise of its immediate past President Late Shri Sunil Gangopadhyay. The Award, which includes a citation and a cash component of Rs 2 lac, is for outstanding work and contribution to the Bengali literature, is sponsored by Shree Cement Limited. It is matter of great honour to felicitate two more eminent personalities from the world of Bengali literature here today,” said Sundeep Bhutoria, Secretary General, The Bengal.

The previous recipients of the Sunil Gangopadhyay Memorial Award include, Nirendranath Chakraborty (2012-13), Sankha Ghosh (2013-14), Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay (2014-15), Joy Goswami (2015-16).

Singer and The Bengal member Usha Uthup sang the welcome song on the occasion. Shri Arindam Sil, a Committee member of The Bengal and joint convenor of Pronam project, an initiative of The Bengal and Kolkata Police for the elderly, read out excerpts from Late Sunil Gangopadhyay’s novel at the function.

A group of conscientious and eminent citizens of Bengal, drawn by the common zeal for social good and community service, came together in 2008 in Kolkata to form The Bengal. Late Prabha Khaitan and Late Paritosh Sen were the two founding members. From its inception, The Bengal has been represented by leading men and women who are experts in their respective fields - may it be education, industry, art, culture, fine arts or performing arts – and share a sense of social commitment.

The other team members of The Bengal are Nabaneeta Dev Sen, Jogen Choudhury, Arindam Sil, Anandi Ghosh, Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, Bickram Ghosh, Chuni Goswami, Dona Ganguly, Prof Md Mansoor Alam, Janab K Jaweed Yusuf, Nayantara Palchoudhury, Agnimitra Paul, June Maliah, Roopa Ganguly and Usha Uthup.

The Bengal has also undertaken projects like Pronam - a project for the Senior Citizens to ensure a more secure life for the city’s elderly - in collaboration with the Kolkata Police and supported by Shree Cement Ltd.

Currently, over 14,000 senior citizens in Kolkata are registered under Pronam.