Parliamentary panel recommends consent clause to discourage return of awards for 'political reasons'

'AKADEMIS ARE APOLITICAL ORGANISATIONS'

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A parliamentary committee has suggested that recipients' consent should be mandatory before a National Akademi confers an award to prevent individuals from returning the honour for political reasons, which it deemed "disgraceful" to the country.

In a report presented in Parliament on Monday, the committee also recommended that awardees sign an undertaking before receiving the award. It further suggested adding a non-disclosure clause to safeguard the confidentiality of the selection process.

The report, titled "Action taken by the government on the recommendations/observations of the committee contained in its three hundred fifty-first report on the subject, 'Functioning of National Akademis and other Cultural Institutions', observed that incidents of award returns undermine other recipients' achievements and affect the overall prestige of the honours.

The committee cited past instances where awardees returned their honours in protest against political issues, which, it noted, fall outside the cultural domain and the autonomous functioning of the concerned Akademi.

"The committee notes the instances of recipients of awards, given by Akademis (such as Sahitya Akademi Awards), returning their awards in protest of certain political issues that are outside the ambit of the cultural realms and the autonomous functioning of the concerned Akademi," the report stated.