The Malda Sammilani Calcutta (MSC), an organisation dedicated to supporting people from Malda who require accommodation and assistance in Kolkata, felicitated six achievers from diverse fields at a ceremony held on Friday evening at the Malda College Auditorium.
Before the start of the felicitation and cultural programme, MSC members paid tribute to four founding pillars of the organisation—late ABA Ghani Khan Choudhury, late Sailen Sarkar, late Tapan Sikdar, and late Dr Pinaki Ray – acknowledging their contributions to building the Sammelani and strengthening the Malda community.
MSC president Dr Sanjay Mishra said the newly formed sub-committee, led by Lakshman Ghosh and joint convenor Santosh Karmakar, with support from members including Kamalesh Bihani, took a special initiative to honour six personalities under two award categories this year.
In the youth category, MSC honoured five achievers below the age of 35 for their excellence in sports, culture, music, and literature.
Athlete Palash Mandal, a gold medallist at the Rajya Yuva Krida Utsav and bronze medallist at the 3rd Yuva Asian Games in Bahrain, was felicitated for bringing laurels to the district and the country.
Promising sprinter Misti Karmakar, who represented India twice at the Youth Asian Games, was also honoured for her consistent national-level performance.
In the field of dance, Bhumika Haldar received recognition for earning the title of “Most Versatile Dancer” on Zee TV’s Dance Bangla Dance and winning the Best Dancer Award on Sony TV in 2024.
In the musical category, rising classical vocalist Diptayan Bhaduri, a national scholarship awardee, was felicitated for his growing contributions to Indian classical music.
MSC also honoured Sudeshna Moitra, recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar (2025) for her poetry collection Ek Rokha Chiruni Tallasi.
Addressing the gathering, MSC chief patron and English Bazaar Municipality chairman, Krishnendu Narayan Choudhury, who is also a former state tourism minister, recalled the early days of the organisation and reaffirmed his commitment to strengthening it further.
South Malda MP Isha Khan Choudhury, who graced the occasion as a guest, praised MSC’s initiative, saying the Sammelani had successfully honoured “the past, the present, and the future”.