Kolkata: Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee Thursday evening gave away awards to eminent writers and artists of the city, including those who supported her in the anti-land acquisition movements in Singur and Nandigram in West Bengal.

Altogether 12 personalities - including eminent writer and social activist Mahasweta Devi, poet Joy Goswami, veteran Bengali actor Supriya Devi, painter Suvaprasanna, dancer Amala Shankar, singer Nirmala Mishra, theatre personality Bivas Chakraborty - were honoured on behalf of the Indian Railways during the occasion.

Though there were 15 personalities in the list, three of them - filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh, classical vocalist Ajoy Chakraborty and Rabindra Sangeet exponent Suchitra Mitra - did not turn up to receive the honour.

"The Indian Railways is privileged to honour these personalities who have made a mark in various fields of art, culture, music and literature. We have issued each of them a lifetime free first-class railway pass so that they, along with one companion, can travel by train to any destination they choose," Banerjee said at the 54th Annual Railways National Award Function here.

Among those feted, Mahasweta Devi, Suvaprasanna, Bivas Chakraborty, Joy Goswami, painter Jogen Chowdhury and singer Pratul Mukhopadhyay had played active roles during the anti-land acquisition movement spearheaded by main opposition Trinamool Congress party and its chief Banerjee in the past couple of years.