Ezhuthachan puraskar for M.T Vasudevan Nair

Highest  literary honour in Malayalam, Ezhuthachan puraskar for the year 2011,  instituted by the State Government has been bagged by legendary writer M.T Vasudevan Nair.  It  was announced by the Cultural Affairs Minister K.C. Joseph at a press meet  in  Kozhikode on Tuesday.  Literary critic M.  Leelavathi opined that  this award should have been given to him much earlier. But  M.T  expressed  happiness that he was felicitated with the great award in the name of  Ezhuthachan and  not concerned  about its timing.  Members of the jury  included novelist K.L Mohana Varma, M. Leelavathi, journalist and writer Jose Panachipuram, Kerala Sahithya Akademy president and author Perubadavam Sreedharan and cultural affairs department principal secretary Sajan Peter. After the award announcement minister K.C Joseph along with minister M.K. Muneer reached M.T's residence to congratulate him. The award includes a purse of Rs 1.5 lakhs, a  statuette and a citation. The award will be presented to him later date convenient to M.T. He received Padmabooshan in 2005. M.T was awarded Jnanpith for his work Randamoozham in 1993. He won the National Film award for the best screenplay four times and received Kendra Sahithya Award once and Kerala Sahitya Akademi award thrice.