Bhutia Gets Inaugural Banga-Samman Award

Legendary Indian footballer Baichung Bhutia was among the 10 luminaries from diverse fields honored with the inaugural Banga-Samman award by the West Bengal government on Friday, Feb. 10, 2012. The award is in recognition of their contribution to arts, culture, music and sports

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee gave the awards to the winners at the inaugural program of the week-long North Bengal Festival.

The other achievers honored were renowned poet Joy Goswami, actress Sandhya Roy, actor-turned-Trinamool MLA Chiranjit Chakroborty, Singer Nachiketa, athlete Hari Shankar Rai, theatre personality Hari Madhab Mukhopadhyay, writer Indra Bahadur Rai and theatre personality Bibhas Chakroborty.