The prizes are awarded to the best single work of poetry submitted by an Indian poet.
However, only Indian citizens are eligible to participate without any age limit.
[2] The jury selecting the prize winners consist of eminent poets from India and abroad.
Past jury members include Peter Forbes, Lawrence Sail, Ruth Padel, Sitakant Mahapatra, J. P. Das, Keshav Malik, Anna Sujatha Mathai and Nissim Ezekiel among others.
Since 2013, the awards are being co-sponsored by the Government of India under the aegis of Ministry of Human Resources.