Dr. Surjit Patar has been honoured with the 19th Saraswati Samman for 2009 for his Punjabi Poetry collection Lafzan Di Dargah. The Minister for Human Resources Development Mr. Kapil Sibal presented a citation, a plaque besides an award money of 7.5 lakh rupees to Dr. Surjit Patar at a function in New Delhi this evening. This year the award money has been enhanced to 7.5 lakh rupees from 5 lakh rupees.The Saraswati Samman instituted by K. K. Birla Foundation is given every year to an oustanding literary work in any Indian languages included in Schedule VIII to the Constitution of India by an Indian citizen and published during the last 10 years.