Sadin-Pratidin Achiever Awards 2025: Lifetime Achiever Award to Linguist, Scholar Dr Nahendra Padun

Distinguished Indian linguist, scholar, and litterateur Dr Nahendra Padun was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Sadin-Pratidin Achiever Awards 2025 in Guwahati on Sunday. Along with the honour, Dr Padun received a cash prize of Rs 1,11,111 and other memorabilia.

This year, the award ceremony was held at the Birinchi Kumar Barua Auditorium at Gauhati University, with Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia attending as the chief guest and handing over the prizes to the winners. Sadin-Pratidin Group owner and the Editor of Asomiya Pratidin, Jayanta Baruah, authorities of Gauhati University, including vice-chancellor Nani Gopal Mahanta, distinguished guests and award winners, along with staff of the Pratidin Group, were present in attendance.

Biography

Dr Nahendra Padun is a distinguished Indian linguist, scholar, and litterateur, widely regarded as a pioneering figure in the modernisation and institutional development of the Mising language and cultural studies. Born in 1941 in Tinsukia, Assam, to Beluram Padun and Aruti Padun, he completed his early schooling in Roborguri, Philobari, and Doom Dooma before pursuing higher education at DHS Kanoi College, Dibrugarh, from where he graduated in 1965. He went on to earn a Master’s degree in Assamese from Gauhati University and later received specialised training in linguistics from Madurai University in 1970.

A central force in the evolution of Mising literature, Dr Padun famously described Assamese as his “midwife language” and Mising as his “mother tongue,” reflecting his role in bridging linguistic traditions. On April 18, 1972, he co-founded the Mising Agom Kebang (Mising Language Society) at Disangmukh and served as its first General Secretary, playing a decisive role in standardising the Mising language and giving it a structured written form. His efforts were instrumental in introducing Mising as a subject in primary schools in 1986. Among his notable works are Mising Agom Luyir and Mising Agom Ayyir, seminal studies in Mising literature; Mising Gomlam (1987), a primary school textbook that functions as a simplified grammar; Mising Asomia Path (1981), a grammar-based guide for learners; Mor Logoriya, a National Award–winning anthology of poems; and Mising Loka Geet (2005), a scholarly study of Mising folk songs.

Dr Padun’s lifelong contribution to language, literature, and culture has earned him numerous honours, including a Doctor of Philosophy (Honoris Causa) from Gauhati University in 2022 for his contributions to regional science, literature, and culture; the Pragjyotishpur Sahitya Puraskar in 2023; and a Lifetime Achievement Award conferred by the Mising Agom Kebang at Sivasagar in 2025 on the occasion of his 85th birthday.