UNESCO Award: Dr Mahendra Kumar Mishra to receive International Mother Language Award 2023 – Times of India

Raipur: Dr Mahendra Kumar Mishra, an eminent linguist and a folklorist from Odisha, has been nominated to receive the UNESCO’s International Mother Language Award 2023 for his lifetime service for promotion of mother language in India.
He will be conferred this award by Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the International Mother Language Institute (IMLI), Dhaka, on February 21.
Dr Mishra is the first one in India to receive the UNESCO award for mother language promotion. He was the pioneer in promoting the endangered languages in school education using community knowledge. He was also the pioneer in adopting Mother tongue based multilingual education in Odisha adopting ten tribal languages in primary schools. Dr Mishra is also a well-known folklorist for his work among the indigenous languages.
Dr Mishra, a member of Language Development Board of Central Sahitya Akademi, is the recipient of Odisha Sahitya Akademi. He was also awarded with a national award for his lifetime achievement in tribal language and culture known as Veer Shankar Shah Raghunath Award. Besides, he has been awarded by Kalevala Institute Finland for his contribution to Kalevala, a national epic of Finland into Odia.