Renowned litterateur Padma Shri Dr. Usha Kiran Khan passed away at a private hospital in Bihar’s capital Patna on Sunday.
Dr Usha Kiran Khan was a celebrated writer in Hindi and Maithili, earning accolades, including the Sahitya Akademi Award for her Maithili novel ‘Bhamati: Ek Avismaraniya Premkatha’.
She was 79.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar extended his condolences soon after Usha Kiran Khan’s demise.
The wife of former IPS officer Ramchandra Khan, Dr. Usha Kiran Khan, originally hailing from Laheriasarai in Bihar, succumbed to her illness during treatment at a private hospital in Patna.
She had been unwell for the past few days.
Born on July 7, 1945, Usha Kiran Khan had received several prestigious honours for her unparalleled contribution to Hindi and Maithili languages.
In 2011, she was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award for her Maithili novel. The following year, in 2012, she received the Kusumanjali Sahitya Samman from the Indian Council for Cultural Relations for her novel ‘Sirjanhaar’.
Her contributions to literature and education were further acknowledged when she was bestowed with the Padma Shri in 2015, one of India’s highest civilian awards.