Noted litterateur Narayan Samat, who has been writing on the conditions of the Dalit community in Bengal and India, was bestowed with West Bengal Dalit Sahitya Academy Award by the state’s information and cultural affairs department on Ambedkar Jayanti as part of Dalit Sahitya Festival, from 14-17 April.

A resident of Ruinan in West Midnapore, Mr Samat is from the Dom Community and had to face various hardships in his childhood for his cultural background.

The writer, who has stories, novels and poems to his credit, says people like BR Ambedkar and President Droupadi Murmu inspire him.

The elated writer, who was first feted by the chief minister Mamata Banerjee for his literary works in 2017, when Jhargram was being carved out as a new district, is 75 years old now and had always longed for a government recognition.

According to the award-winning writer, he has 23 published works and four more are awaiting publication. “All my works have been on the Dalit community, centering round their social structure, education, their social condition, language and work.

I have seen how the upper community has been neglecting the lower castes. After witnessing the oppression from a young age, I feel the levels of oppression has come down as the younger lot are getting education and have started to know their own potential. With education, they have also understood the society well.

The oppressor class has also realised that they can no longer subdue the Dalits. Caste oppression has come down but only by 30 per cent,” said Mr Samat. Mr Samat is presently working on his latest book, Banglar Dom Shekorer Shondhane (Bengal’s Dom community in search of its roots).

“I’m also doing research on how we get our titles or surnames, which classifies our caste. I’m curious to know how I got my surname, Samat. Is it from samal or something else?” he wonders.

Adding some information about the Dom community, he said, “Through our folklore we get to know that Dom community used to play a very responsible role in any king’s army. Another book is on the topic:

Banglar sanskriti lupto o lupto prai (the lost and almost lost culture of Bengal), which explores the effect on the society as a result of the list culture.” The litterateur, who has been penning his thoughts since the age of 18, has also been bringing out a newspaper, Alor Mela, for last 49 years.