The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, was inaugurated on:

The Sahitya Akademi (National Academy of Letters) was formally inaugurated on 12 March 1954.

About the Sahitya Akademi:

• It was set up by a resolution of the Government of India in December 1952.
• It is an autonomous organisation, registered as a society, and is funded by the Ministry of Culture.
• Its headquarters is at Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi.
• It has regional offices in Bengaluru, Kolkata and Mumbai, and a sub-office in Chennai.
• Its first President was Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, and its first Secretary was Krishna Kripalani.
• Its aim is to promote Indian literature and to foster cultural unity through literature.
• It recognises 24 languages: the 22 languages of the Eighth Schedule, plus English and Rajasthani.

Its awards:

Sahitya Akademi Award: given every year since 1955 for outstanding literary works in each of the 24 languages. It is one of India's highest literary honours.

Sahitya Akademi Fellowship: its highest honour, given to a small number of eminent writers.

Bhasha Samman: given for contributions to languages not recognised by the Akademi and to classical and medieval literature.

Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize: for translations into the 24 languages.

Yuva Puraskar: for young writers under 35 (since 2011).

Bal Sahitya Puraskar: for children's literature (since 2010).

Other activities:

• It publishes books in many languages, as well as journals such as "Indian Literature" (English) and "Samakalin Bharatiya Sahitya" (Hindi).
• It organises the "Festival of Letters" (Sahityotsav) every year.
• It maintains one of the largest multilingual libraries in India.

The three national academies:

• Sangeet Natak Akademi (music, dance, drama): inaugurated 28 January 1953.
• Sahitya Akademi (literature): inaugurated 12 March 1954.
• Lalit Kala Akademi (fine arts): inaugurated 5 August 1954.

Other literary awards:

Jnanpith Award: given by the Bharatiya Jnanpith since 1965 (first to G. Sankara Kurup).

Saraswati Samman: given by the K. K. Birla Foundation since 1991.

Why not the other options?

• ✗28 January 1953 is when the Sangeet Natak Akademi was inaugurated.
• ✗5 August 1954 is when the Lalit Kala Akademi was inaugurated.
• ✗15 August 1947 is India's Independence Day.