Raipur, January 23, 2026. On the first day of the Raipur Literature Festival-2026, organised at Purkhauti Muktangan to connect Chhattisgarh’s literary, intellectual, and ideological consciousness with the national discourse, an interesting dialogue took place between Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh and Jai Prakash Pandey, editor of Sahitya Aaj Tak.
In the dialogue session held at the Anirudh Nirav Mandap, they discussed India’s development story and the importance of making literature accessible to the youth.
During the discussion, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh said that contemporary literature is the only thing that can unite society. Literature has the power to resolve ideological conflicts among people from different backgrounds, societies, and states.
He said that events like the Raipur Literature Festival are very important for uniting society and for teaching the coming generation to understand literature.
Harivansh said that our villages, states, and country have many historical legacies, historical books, great historians, and writers of whom we should be proud. But we have such a strong sense of inferiority that we have become overly influenced by foreign things. Our country’s literature is so rich that people from abroad can learn from it. This sense of inferiority will only disappear when events like the Raipur Literature Festival are held in every district and every state of the country, he said.
He emphasized the importance of writing about the country’s culture and the heritage of every village.
Harivansh said that India is lighting the torch and showing the way to the world. Since 2014, India has been continuously progressing towards development. The development of any country is reflected in its villages and the people living in the remotest areas. Today, Indian villages have concrete houses, and UPI payments are being made across the country as part of the digital revolution.
