The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan gave away the 40th Jnanpith  Award to Shri Rahman Rahi in New Delhi on November 6, 2008. 
  The activities of the Bharatiya Jnanpith Trust have come to occupy a very important part in our country’s cultural, artistic and intellectual life. The Trust was 
established by one of India’s leading philanthropists and industrialists, Shri Shanti Prasad Jain. Shri Jain was a true jain, a man of many parts, who built wide-ranging industries, founded educational institutions and acquired a newspaper. He was also a visionary who felt the need to endow research into our cultural and literary heritage and encourage a creativity rooted in the Indian ethos and in Indian languages. Starting more than six decades ago, the Bharatiya Jnanpeeth Trust has done commendable pioneering work in the publication of 
ancient Indian and jain  texts. 

  The Jnanpith Award was instituted in the early 1960s by Smt. Rama Jain to recognize the work of writers and poets in various Indian languages. It has over the years established itself as one of our nation’s premier literary honours. It remains a tribute to the far-sightedness of both Shri Shanti Prasad Jain and his revered wife, Smt. Rama Jain. In more than four decades since its inception, the Jnanpith Award has given recognition to leading writers in many of our numerous national languages and brought their work to the wider public record. The award fulfills a very important role in presenting to the world the rich treasure house of writings contained in various Indian languages. 
  In honouring authors and poets, the Jnanpith Award recognize not just achievement and accomplishment but  also celebrate the sensitivity, the richness, the creativity and the power of the human mind and human spirit. The Prime Minister  said on the occasion: “I am very happy to be here in this very distinguished gathering for the presentation of the 40th Jnanpith Award to Shri Rahman Rahi.   In recognizing the work of Shri Rahman Rahi Sahib, the Bharatiya Jnanpith Trust honours a celebrated poet who has made a profound contribution to the Kashmiri language and through it to the wealth of Indian literature."