In a bid to stem the use of ‘award wapasi’ as a political tool, a Parliamentary Standing Committee has suggested taking an undertaking from shortlisted candidates for academy awards beforehand that the honours would not be returned for “political reasons”.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Tourism, Transport and Culture, in its report submitted to the Rajya Sabha on Monday, has suggested that the awards by various literary and culture bodies under the Culture Ministry like the Sahitya Akademi may not be given without such an undertaking and in the event that the awards are returned, the awardee shall not be considered for any award in the future.
Sources said two committee members CPI(M)’s A.A. Rahim and Congress’ K. Muralidharan objected to the recommendation.
