Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Chief Secretary V.P. Joy with the recipients of the Kerala Awards (second from left to right) former civil servant and social activist T. Madhava Menon, magician Gopinath Muthukad, singer Vaikom Vijayalakshmi, industrialist Kochouseph Chittilappilly, biologist Sathyabhama Das Biju, and Deepthi Omcheri Balla and Aswathy V. Nair, who accepted the awards on behalf of their respective fathers, playwright Omchery N.N. Pillai and writer M.T. Vasudevan Nair
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Governor Arif Mohammed Khan presented the maiden Kerala Awards instituted by the State government to honour individuals who have made outstanding contributions to society at a ceremony held at Raj Bhavan here on Tuesday.
Kerala Jyothi, the highest civilian award, was presented to noted writer and Jnanpith laureate M.T. Vasudevan Nair. His daughter and danseuse Aswathy V. Nair accepted the honour on his behalf.
Former civil servant and social activist T. Madhava Menon and playwright Omchery N.N. Pillai were presented the Kerala Prabha award. Mohiniyattam exponent Deepti Omchery Bhalla accepted the award on behalf of her father.
Biologist Sathyabhama Das Biju, magician Gopinath Muthukad, industrialist Kochouseph Chittilappilly and singer Vaikom Vijayalakshmi received the Kerala Sree awards.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan presided over the ceremony. Chief Secretary V.P. Joy introduced the award recipients. Ministers V. Sivankutty, Ahammad Devarkovil, J. Chinchu Rani, A.K. Saseendran, Thiruvananthapuram Mayor Arya Rajendran, Ramachandran Kadannappally, K.P. Mohanan, V.K. Prasanth, MLAs, State Police Chief Anil Kant and dignitaries from various walks of life were also present.
