Parliamentary panel suggests recipient consent to discourage return of awards in protest

Emphasising that Sahitya Akademi or other cultural academies are "apolitical organisations", a parliamentary panel has suggested that whenever any award is given by them, the consent of the recipient must be taken so that he or she does not return it because of "political reasons".

The department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture said this in a report tabled in both houses of Parliament on Monday.

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

In its "Three Hundred Fifty First Report on 'Functioning of National Akademis and other Cultural Institutions', the panel underlined that return of such awards is "disgraceful to the country".

"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 panel said.

The committee observed that the awards given by each Akademi continue to be top honours for an artiste in India.