Eighty five-year-old Kant has been selected for the award constituted by K K Birla Foundation by a jury headed by Prof Surya Prasad Dixit, a release said here today.
The award, which is given to an outstanding Hindi literary work published during the last ten years since 1991, carries a cash prize of Rs 2.5 lakh.
The novel 'Inhin Hathiyaron Se' revolves around incidents between the Quit India movement and independence in 1947 against the background of rural Balia region.
Kant, a freedom fighter, was born in Bhagdalpur village in eastern UP's Balia district.
He started his career as a journalist.
His first story 'Babu' was published in 1949 and one of his most celebrated stories is 'Dopahar Ka Bhojan'.