About
To promote, recognise and reward talent in art, culture and literature across India's languages and regions.
Prabha Khaitan Foundation (PKF) is a Kolkata-based non-profit trust that runs one of India's most extensive networks of literary and cultural events, spanning more than fifty cities in India and abroad. Through branded formats - Kalam (Hindi), An Author's Afternoon and The Write Circle (English), Aakhar (regional languages), Lafz (Urdu/Arabic/Persian, with Rekhta Foundation), Kitaab (book launches), Ek Mulakat and Sur Aur Saaz - and its Ehsaas Women network, it connects writers, artists and audiences, largely funded through corporate CSR.
Inspired by the writer-entrepreneur Prabha Khaitan, the Foundation built a distinctive model: a national circuit of intimate, branded literary and cultural events, each anchored locally by 'Ehsaas Women' - teams of women achievers in cities across India and abroad. Under the 'Apni Bhasha Apne Log' banner, its formats span Hindi, English, regional languages and Urdu (the last in partnership with the Rekhta Foundation), alongside book launches, music and film.
Largely funded by corporate patrons such as Shree Cement and Tata Steel as part of their CSR, PKF has become one of the busiest and most geographically distributed players in India's literary-events ecosystem - a cultural operator that turns CSR funding into a vast, multilingual programme of public literary life.
Founding & Leadership
Prabha Khaitan Foundation is a Kolkata-based non-profit trust founded in memory of, and inspired by, Dr. Prabha Khaitan - an eminent litterateur, entrepreneur, philanthropist, social activist and feminist. Today it is led by Managing Trustee Sundeep Bhutoria and works across art, culture, education, wildlife conservation and literature promotion in more than fifty cities in India and abroad.
A non-profit trust governed by trustees, with literary and cultural events anchored in each city by its Ehsaas Women network.
Leadership & Trustees
Initiatives & Portfolio
Branded series including Kalam (Hindi), An Author's Afternoon & The Write Circle (English), Aakhar (regional) and Lafz (Urdu/Arabic/Persian, with Rekhta).
City-based teams of women achievers who anchor and host the Foundation's events across 50+ cities.
Literature festivals and book-launch events (Kitaab), including collaborations with corporate-backed literary meets.
Sur Aur Saaz (music), Ek Mulakat (conversations) and Chalchitra (film) extend the programme beyond literature.
Impact & Metrics
Partnerships & Network
Partner institutions
Funders & patrons
Lafz in partnership with Rekhta Foundation; literary meets with corporate partners.
Credentials & Compliance
CSR-eligible · Schedule VII(v) - art & culture
A leading CSR-funded cultural operator: brands such as Shree Cement and Tata Steel fund its literary and cultural events under Schedule VII(v), making PKF a key intermediary between corporate CSR and literary culture.
Recognition
One of India's most extensive literary-and-cultural event networks, spanning 50+ cities and many languages.
[Atlas Assessment] Prabha Khaitan Foundation has built one of the densest literary-events networks in India - a multilingual, multi-city circuit that brings writers and audiences together far beyond the major metros. Its Ehsaas Women model and its skill at channelling corporate CSR into sustained cultural programming make it a significant, if distinctive, force in contemporary Indian literary life.
PKF scores highest on reach - few cultural bodies operate across so many cities and languages. It is best understood as a CSR-funded cultural operator and intermediary rather than a content-originating institution: its strength is convening, distribution and brand-partnered programming. For a CSR funder it is a turnkey, wide-reach literary-and-cultural partner; the honest questions are depth versus breadth and the degree of dependence on corporate sponsorship and a central network.