MUMBAI: Three personalities from theatre and the film industry like Shyam Benegal, Girish Karnad and Madhur Bhandarkar will be conferred the Ganga Sharan Singh Award by President Dr Pratibha Patil at the Rashtrapati Bhavan this Wednesday for their contribution to Hindi language.

This isn‘t the first time Bhandarkar, Benegal and Karnad are being felicitated. Earlier, Benegal was felicited with the Padma Shri award in 1976 and Padma Bhushan award in 1991. Karnad too was conferred the Padma Shri award in 1974 and the Padma Bhushan award in 1992.

For Bhandarkar, this would be the fourth time that he would receive a Presidential award. In 2001 and 2005, he was conferred the National Film Award for best film for Chandni Bar and Page 3, respectively, by the then President APJ Kalam. In 2007, he was conferred the National Film Award for best director for Traffic Signal.

The Ganga Sharan Singh award is a literary honour that the Kendriya Hindi Sansthan (Central Hindi Organisation), Ministry of Human Resource Development annually confers on writers of outstanding works in Hindi literature. The award is also bestowed upon those who play an important role in promoting the Hindi language through their area of expertise.