42nd Jnanpith Award for 2006

The 42nd Jnanpith Award for 2006 was given to Konkani litterateur Ravindra Kelekar. He received the award from Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar in a ceremonyin Goa.  Kelekar also received the Padma Bhushan (2008), the Gomant Sharada Award of Kala Academy, the Sahitya Akademi Award (1976) and the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship (2007) which is the highest award of the Sahitya Akademi. He wrote some of his most important works promoting the Konkani language include Aamchi Bhas Konkanich (1962), Shallent Konkani Kityaak (1962),A Bibliography of Konkani Literature in Devanagari, Roman and Kannada characters (1963).
 Jnanpith Award is the highest literary award in India. The 42nd Jnanpith Award consisted of a citation, shawl, srifal, a bronze idol of Vagdevi Saraswati and a cash prize of Rs 7 lakh.