Jammu-born poet and novelist Padma Sachdev has been chosen for the prestigious Saraswati Samman for the year 2015 for her autobiography written in Dogri language. The 76-year-old writer’s autobiography ‘Chitt-Chete’, published in 2007, was selected from 22 works in as many languages published between the years 2005-2014. The award is given every year for an outstanding literary work written in any Indian language by an Indian citizen and published during last 10 years. It carries award money of Rs 15 lakh, a citation and a plaque.Sachdev, who writes in Hindi and native Dogri, has 60 books to her credit.
She has been a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi award in 1971 for her book of poetry ‘Meri Kavita Mere Geet’. In her 662-page autobiography, Sachdev has included some historic photographs with dignitaries from her state, nation and the world.