After being questioned by the High Court of Karnataka on the absence of proper guidelines for selecting persons for the State award (Rajyotsava award), the State government has now set up a 22-member expert committee, headed by a former judge of the High Court, to study the issue and suggest eligibility criteria and guidelines for selection.
H.N. Nagamohan Das, a former judge of the High Court, will be the chairman of the committee, as per the Government Order issued on July 26.
Other members of the committee are: Baragur Ramachandrappa (literature), B.V. Rajaram (theatre), P. Venkatesh Kumar (music), Choodamani Nandagopal (dance), Chandranath Acharya (painting), Venkatachalapathy (sculpture), Anupama Hosakere (Bayalata), Appagere Thimmaraju (folklore), Suresh Heblikar (agri-environment), Sudhindra Haldodderi (science), N. Someshwara (medical), T.S. Nagabharana (feature films), Kishan Hegde (Yakshagana), Siddalingaiah (poetry), Nagesh Hegde (media), Malathi Holla (sports), S.G. Siddaramaiah (literature), K.T. Chikkanna (literature), and K. Marulasiddappa (literature). While the Principal Secretary of the Kannada and Culture Department will also be a member, director of the department will be the ex-officio secretary of the committee.
A copy of the order on setting up the committee was submitted before Justice S. Abdul Nazeer, who has been hearing a petition filed by 65-year-old B.V. Sathyanarayana Rao, a resident of Bengaluru, who moved the court last year as he was not considered for the Rajyotsava award for 2015 though he had written around 70 books.
During the earlier hearing of the petition, the court had expressed displeasure over the absence of a criteria and clear guidelines for selection of persons, even though the award was instituted more than 60 years ago.
‘Invite suggestions’
While taking note of the setting up of the committee, the court adjourned further hearing and asked the government to invite suggestions from the petitioner and from the public on eligibility criteria and guidelines. The High Court has in the recent past received petitions challenging selections made to the awards.
