Samashti Foundation announces awards; renowned editor Dnyanesh Maharao to be conferred with Satyashodhak Honour

IPS officer Sandeep Tamgadge, who is a Deputy Inspector General in Nagaland, will get the Namdeo Dhasal Samashti Award for ethical service in the police force and path breaking work on sickle cell disease.

Mumbai: Renowned editor Dnyanesh Maharao will be conferred with the Satyashodhak Honour instituted by the Samashti Foundation for his lifelong commitment to intellectual discourse.

Other awardee includes lyricist Javed Akhtar, who would receive the Namdeo Dhasal Samashti Award for his unparalleled 50-year contribution to literature and language.

IPS officer Sandeep Tamgadge, who is an Additional Director General of Police in Nagaland, will get the Namdeo Dhasal Samashti Award for ethical service in the police force and path breaking work on sickle cell disease.

Journalist and thinker Raju Parulekar will receive the Samashti Ulgulan Award for fearless journalism and shaping public discourse in Marathi society.

Dr Shyamal Garud will get the Samashti Golpitha Award for the book "Kanitichya Mage" and his literary contributions to the Ambedkarite movement.

Dr Amol Deolekar will receive the Samashti Nirmik Award for impactful work in public health.

Advocate Disha Wadekar will get the Samashti Mooknayak Award for challenging a 200-year-old caste-based law in a landmark legal battle.

Now in its eighth year, Samashti Festival has evolved into a vibrant intellectual and cultural platform that goes beyond awards to become a celebration of ideas, resistance, and reform through cinema, music, literature, dialogue, and art.

The festival will be held on April 11–12 Annabhau Sathe Auditorium at Byculla in Mumbai.

Dr Swapnil Dhasal, newly elected National President of Dalit Panther, has invited all thinkers, artists, and members of the media to attend this landmark festival.

“For the last eight years, Samashti Foundation has strived to create an inclusive platform where real issues can be expressed through language, performance, and creativity. The Samashti Awards represent a bond between sensitivity and responsibility,” he said.