'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.