President Pranab Mukherjee today awarded Certificates of Honour to eminent scholars of Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit, Arabic and Persian for the year 2015 at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Fifteen scholars were awarded for Sanskrit, two for Arabic, three for Persian and one for Pali/Prakrit. Mr Mukherjee also gave away the Maharishi Badrayan Vyas Samman to young scholars. Five scholars were honoured for Sanskrit and one each for Arabic, Persian and Pali/Prakrit.<br/><br/>Human Resources Development Minister Smriti Zubin Irani was present on the event. The scheme for award of Certificates of Honour was introduced in the year 1958 by Ministry of Human Resource and Development to honour the scholars of Sanskrit, Arabic and Persian Languages. <br/><br/>The scheme was extended to cover Pali, Prakrit in 1996. From the year 2008, the scheme was further extended to cover one international award for an NRI or foreigner for their lifetime achievement in the field of Sanskrit. The award consists of a certificate and a cash award of 5 lakh rupees. <br/><br/>The Maharishi Badrayan Vyas Samman for young scholars in the age group of 30 to 40 years in the field of Sanskrit, Pali/ Prakrit, Arabic and Persian has been introduced from the year 2002. The Award consists of certificate and cash award of one lakh rupees.