West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday conferred the 'Banga Samman' awards on 20 stalwarts and organisations, including the Ramakrishna Mission, Indian classical singer Girija Devi and late Feroza Begum.
The highest 'Banga Bivushan Samman' honour was given to legendary Girija Devi, late Bangladeshi Nazrul Geeti singer Feroza Begum and the Ramakrishna Mission at a glittering ceremony.
Al-Ameen Mission (a residential institute for Muslim students located near Howrah), Trinamool Congress MP and actor Dev, filmmaker Shoojit Sircar and leading Baul exponent Kartik Das Baul were accorded the 'Banga Bhushan Samman'.
Social workers from north Bengal also featured prominently in the awardee list.
"The soil of Bengal has immense potentials. We are grateful that we could felicitate the stalwarts in a humble way. We started this felicitation programme four years ago. We will continue to do this in the coming years," she said.