Which award is conferred by the Government of Madhya Pradesh on women for excellence in tribal, folk and traditional arts?
- (a)National Kabir Award
- (b)State level Shikhar Award
- (c)Rashtriya Devi Ahilya Samman
- (d)Rashtriya Tulsi Samman
Correct — C, Rashtriya Devi Ahilya Samman (National Devi Ahilya Award). Instituted by the Madhya Pradesh Culture Department in 1996-97, it recognises the creativity of WOMEN artists specifically in tribal, folk and traditional arts, carrying a cash prize and citation.
- (a)National Kabir Award — A genuine Madhya Pradesh honour (Rashtriya Kabir Samman, instituted 1986-87) — but for POETRY/literature in any Indian language, named after the poet-saint Kabir; it is not gender-specific and has no connection to tribal or folk arts.
- (b)State level Shikhar Award — Madhya Pradesh's Rajya Shikhar Samman (instituted 1980-81) recognises excellence across literature, music, theatre and visual art broadly — including both tribal and non-tribal art forms — and is not restricted to women or to tribal/folk arts specifically.
- (d)Rashtriya Tulsi Samman — MP's parallel award in the SAME field (tribal, traditional & folk arts, instituted 1983) — but for MALE artists; the Devi Ahilya Samman is its women-only counterpart.
Madhya Pradesh's Culture Department runs a mirror-image pair of state awards for tribal, folk and traditional arts: the Rashtriya Tulsi Samman (male artists, since 1983) and the Rashtriya Devi Ahilya Samman (women artists, since 1996-97) — both covering art, theatre, dance and music, differing only by the artist's gender. Separately, the state also runs broader, non-gender-specific culture honours — the Rajya Shikhar Samman (general excellence across literature/music/theatre/visual art, 1980-81) and the Rashtriya Kabir Samman (poetry, 1986-87) — that get mixed in with the tribal-arts pair in exam options.
Exam-setters mix MP's several overlapping-sounding culture Sammans together — the trap is picking a genuine MP award (Kabir Samman, Shikhar Samman) that sounds prestigious but targets a different, non-gender-specific field, instead of the one actually restricted to women in tribal/folk arts.
- Rashtriya Devi Ahilya Samman: MP award for WOMEN artists in tribal, folk & traditional arts; instituted 1996-97.
- Rashtriya Tulsi Samman (1983): the male-artist counterpart, same field.
- Rashtriya Kabir Samman (1986-87): MP's poetry/literature award, open to poets of any Indian language — not tribal-arts-specific.
- Rajya Shikhar Samman (1980-81): MP's general excellence award across literature, music, theatre and visual art — not restricted to women or tribal arts.
Four distinct MP culture Sammans — only the Devi Ahilya Samman is both women-only and tribal/folk-arts-specific.
- Confusing MP's Rashtriya Devi Ahilya Samman (tribal/folk arts, women) with the Government of India's differently-scoped 'Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Award' under the Stree Shakti Puraskar (administrative contribution to women's welfare organisations).
- Picking Kabir Samman or Shikhar Samman because they are prestigious, well-known MP awards — without checking they aren't restricted to women or to tribal/folk arts.
MPPSC likes listing several genuine MP culture Sammans together and asking for the one matching BOTH conditions (gender + field) — lock 'Devi Ahilya = women + tribal/folk arts' as the specific pairing.
With reference to Stree Shakti Puraskar, for which one of the following is the "Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Award" given?
- (a) Administrative skills
- (b) Achievements in Scientific Research
- (c) Achievements in Sports and Games
- (d) Courage and valour
Answer(a) Administrative skills
Same namesake (Ahilya Bai Holkar) tested from the other direction — UPSC 2009 asks about the Government of India's differently-scoped 'Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Award' under Stree Shakti Puraskar, distinct from MP's own Rashtriya Devi Ahilya Samman tested here.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Rashtriya Tulsi Samman, Madhya Pradesh's award for excellence in tribal, folk and traditional arts instituted in 1983, is reserved for:
- (a)Women artists only
- (b)Male artists only
- (c)Artists of any gender
- (d)Institutions only
Answer(b) Male artists only — the men's counterpart to the Rashtriya Devi Ahilya Samman.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Under the Government of India's Stree Shakti Puraskar scheme, the 'Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Award' recognises which category?
- (a)Administrative/managerial contribution to women's welfare
- (b)Scientific research
- (c)Sports achievement
- (d)Acts of courage
Answer(a) Administrative/managerial contribution to women's welfare — a central government award, distinct from MP's own Rashtriya Devi Ahilya Samman.