Durgeshwar Sonowal To Win Pratima Barua Pandey Memorial Award 2024

The All Assam Students' Union (AASU) announced that prominent folk artist, 86-year-old Durgeshwar Sonowal will be honoured with the Pratima Barua Pandey Memorial Award for 2024.

Sonowal is being recognized for his dedication to folk arts. He hails from Meslow village in Assam’s Dibrugarh district.

The organization will present the award to Sonowal on December 27 before the statue of Pratima Barua Pandey at Chandmari in Guwahati.

The award is given by AASU annually to people who have significantly promoted and worked towards the preservation of folk culture in Assam. Last year, the award was bestowed on Rahendra Nath Brahma, noted folk culture exponent from Kokrajhar.

Previous recipient include Eklavya Gham, who won in 2022 and Khagen Gogoi in 2022.

The Pratima Barua Pandey award was created by AASU in memory of the legendary singer.  It is handed out every year on December 27, marking the death anniversary of the renowned Goalparia Lokageet singer Pratima Barua Pandey.