The Hindu : Hectic lobbying for Rajyotsava Award

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 23, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka

Hectic lobbying for Rajyotsava Award

By K.N.Venkatasubba Rao

BANGALORE Oct. 22. Amid hectic lobbying and use of political influence by a large section of aspirants and vested interests, the special committee constituted for suggesting names for the Rajyotsava Award is likely to submit its recommendation to the Chief Minister, S.M.Krishna, on Friday.

Sources told The Hindu here today that the committee had received over 700 applications from the award seekers and a number of representations from others suggesting names for the annual award.

The panel had obtained a panel of names from six of the seven academies for inclusion in the preliminary list.

Change in venue

The committee, headed by the Minister of State for Kannada and Culture, Rani Satish, was expected to finalise the list on Monday but it could not do so because of power failure at the Kannada Bhavana.

It was forced to shift the venue of meeting from the Kannada Bhavana for its final meeting reportedly because of public and political interference.

While screening the applications, the committee had reportedly felt disappointed and shocked to find some "notorious" names and the reasons some aspirants had cited for proposing their names for the award.

At one stage, the committee had even thought of suggesting to the Government to change the method of selection to "protect the dignity" of the award.

Despite pressure, the Minister had asked the members of the committee to stick to the norms and retain only deserving names.

Although the committee was discreet and relentless in keeping out undeserving names, preparing the final list with representation to the respective communities had been posing a major problem as a majority of the candidates represented only two communities. "The committee is in a fix over this community factor as it may provide a weapon for the detractors to politicise the selection for the award," sources said.

Of the names suggested, H.S.Venkatesha Murthy, poet, and Kasargod Chinna, member of the Kerala Sangeeta Nataka Academy, were likely to figure in the final list.

But the committee had refused to entertain names of some persons, including the septuagenarian artiste, writer, and the Nataka Academy member, H.G.Somashekhara Rao, citing the norms, sources said.

Ms. Satish told The Hindu that the committee was under pressure. It adhered to the norms and considered the names strictly according to merit. It would submit the list to the Chief Minister by Friday and leave the final decision to the Government.

Asked about the names, she said: "My list contains several probable names subject to the Government's omission and commission. The number of award-winners will be restricted to 55."

Charges of nepotism

Meanwhile, a few aspirants, who claimed that they had no political backing, alleged that two high profile members in the committee had been projecting their own candidates.

These two members were working together till recently and were known for their differing literary tastes, political clout, and "cold war", they alleged.

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