Parliamentary panel recommends recipient 'consent' to prevent return of awards for 'political reasons'

New Delhi: A parliamentary committee has suggested "consent of the recipient" was a must in case a National Akademi decided to confer an award to prevent the honour's return by the individual for political reasons as it was "disgraceful" to the country.

The panel also recommended that an undertaking would have to be signed before an award is given and suggested adding a non-disclosure clause to protect against the potential breach of confidentiality of the selection process.

In its report, presented in Parliament on Monday, the panel has observed that "such inappropriate incidents involving the return of awards undermine the achievements of the other awardees and also impact the overall prestige and reputation of the awards".

The report is 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'".

"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 which are outside the ambit of the cultural realms and the autonomous functioning of the concerned Akademi," it said.

The panel also observed that awards given by each Akademi continue to be top honours for an artist in India. The committee emphasised that Sahitya Akademi or other Akademis are "apolitical organisations".

"There is no place for politics. The committee, therefore, suggests that whenever an award is given, the consent of the recipient must be taken, so that he/she does not return it because of political reasons; as it is disgraceful to the country," the panel said in its report.

The committee has also recommended "prior concurrence of short-listed candidates" for awards before finalisation.

"A system may be put in place where an undertaking is taken from the proposed awardee citing acceptance of the award and that the awardees cannot dishonour the award at any point of time in future. Awards may not be given without such an undertaking," it said.

In the event that the awards are returned, the awardee shall not be considered for such an award in the future, the report said.

The Ministry of Culture has told the panel that it agreed with the committee's perspective and would like to "avoid controversies in all regards".

"However, obtaining a signed commitment from the writer prior to the award announcement would unfortunately compromise the confidentiality surrounding the selection process. Additionally, the legal enforceability of such a pre-declaration commitment might be uncertain," the ministry has said.

The committee said it acknowledges the ministry's reply and understands its concern about confidentiality and legal implications related to obtaining signed commitments.

The panel in it report has suggested that the "commitment document should include a non-disclosure clause to protect against breach of confidentiality".

"Alternatively, the ministry should explore other measures to prevent similar issues in the future. Additionally, a policy should be established to monitor artists who have returned their awards but remain affiliated with the Akademi," it said.

The committee questioned "re-engagement" of such awardees who joined the Akademi after "insulting" it.

A member of the panel "opined against the view that artists, authors and other intellectuals and performers who have been recommended for awards must sign a commitment that they will not return the awards as a form of protest at any point in the future before they are able to receive it", the report said.

"He was of the view that India is a democratic country, and our Constitution has provided to every citizen the freedom of speech and expression and also the freedom to protest in any form. Returning of awards is only a form of protest. The member added that the committee must strongly recommend to the government to look into the actual issues in protest of which such awards have been returned and work towards resolving them. He was seconded by another member," it added.

The member again submitted that the Akademis and the other institutions should "continue to work together with these artists and not shun them", the report said.

The parliamentary committee has also recommended to National Akademis to explore the option of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds for protection of national heritage, art and culture, including restoration of buildings and sites of historical importance and works of art.

The panel also recommended that some portion of the CSR fund may be "mandatorily earmarked" for the development and promotion of culture and cultural institutions. The government can think of making such amendments in the legislation related to CSR, it added.

To this recommendation, the ministry has said that the autonomous bodies are encouraged to garner CSR funds, and funds from other ministries and also from non-government sources. And, an SOP is being issued to all in this regard, the report said.