The "Raja Rao Award" is being instituted to honour and recognize writers (including scholars and critics) who have made an "Outstanding Contribution to the Literature of the South Asian Diaspora."

Raja Rao, one of the greatest living writers of our times, has very kindly consented to the Award being named after him.

The Award may be given to writers whose contribution is significant but who may not necessarily be international celebrities or who may not have won major literary awards.

As far as possible, this will be an annual award.

The winner will be selected by a jury consisting of not less than three persons of repute, whose academic and/or creative credentials are well-established. The term of the jury, except for that of the member-secretary, will be one year or thereabouts.

The award, to begin with, may be modest consisting perhaps of a shawl, a citation/scroll, and a bronze statue/copper plaque.

The Managing Committee of the award is authorized to solicit donations to build a corpus fund for the Prize. When a substantial corpus if built, the prize can be awarded from the interest accrued from the deposits.

Annual accounts will be maintained of the earnings and expenses of this account. All accounts will be made available to donors and other interested supporters of the prize.

The Award will be conferred upon the winner in India, as far as possible.

An International Advisory Board may be constituted to guide the Award process.

The Award will be managed by Samvad India Foundation, a Public Charitable Trust incorporated in New Delhi, India.