Misuse of
Padma Awards.
Pre-fixing
a title to their names is peculiar to Tamilnadu and it almost defines the deep
rooted desire of the people to glorify themselves. This desire
cuts across caste lines, political affiliations and the economic
divide. The trend perhaps started with
the filmdom where anyone can give a title to anyone. But National Awards are on
a different footing.
National
Awards were formally instituted in January
1954 to recognize the services of
those who made a valuable contribution to the Nation. They were thus defined:
Bharat
Ratna: For exceptional service towards
the advancement of art, literature and science
and in recognition of the public service of the highest order
Padma
Vibhushan: For exceptional and distinguished service in any field including
service rendered by Govt. services.
Padma
Bhushan: For distinguished service of a high order in any field including the
service rendered by Govt. servant.
Padma
Shree: For distinguished service in any field including service rendered by
Govt. servants. ( SC judgement on Dec.15th, 1995 –Justice A. M
.Ahmadi )
The criteria are not clear. Bharat Ratna is
for exceptional service and Padma Vibhushan for exceptional and distinguished
service. Should it not be the other way
about ?
Even
during the constitutional debate,
J.B.Kriplani’s suggestion that
the Awardees found committing “commercial offences” be deprived
of their awards. was not accepted. . So we have many Padma awardees raided by Income-Tax. These things rob the awards their decorum. Similarly musicians charging in lakhs for a concert are creating wealth for themselves. Where is the
service here? Persons who are engaged in enriching themselves should not be awarded for that particular
activity. It has to be beyond the call of duty. Rigorous scrutiny is needed
while choosing film stars, if at
all they must be chosen. For instance, an actress ,
a 2016 awardee has said she does
not need a man in her life. She said “Men must not be needed but wanted.” Another actress awardee , when questioned
about her“ revelations” said she was proud to display her assets because she had
those assets .
That the Padma Award is only an award and not
a title does not dawn on many who don it and flaunt it as a title. But in Tamilnadu, not merely the
film stars but eminent
industrialists, top musicians,
educationists, have no qualms about
pre-fixing it to their names as if it is
a title. Their letter-heads, visiting
cards and announcements of their programmers mark it loudly.. Satyajit Roy, Abdul kalam, Nandan Nilekani , Anil Kakkodkar, E.Sridharn, or
Narayana Murthy and many others never pre-fixed their awards to their names
as titles nor did they carry any other title.
The
Home Ministry replying to my RTI query
clarified that “ the National Awards do
not amount to “titles “ within the meaning of Article 18 (1) of the
Constitution and they should not be used as suffixes or prefixes. If this is
done, the defaulter should forfeit the National Award ….” It has cited a Supreme Court judgment
delivered on Dec.15th, 1995 by a Bench led by Justice A. M. Ahmadi
CJI
. A press note issued by the Government of
India in 1968 warned the Awardees that the awards should not be used as titles
on letter heads, invitation cards, posters books etc., and warned of forfeiture
if misused. A complaint to the Home
ministry with proof will result in forfeiture.
Andhra Pradesh High Court asked producers
Mohan Babu and Brahmananda to surrender their awards when a case was filed
against their misuse of the awards. In the appeal, Supreme Court ( April 12,
2014 The Hindu) asked them to give an undertaking not to misuse .
The Supreme Court ( 1995) also
recorded that Conferment of Padma awards
without any firm guidelines and fool-proof method of selection was bound to breed nepotism, favoritism, patronage
and even corruption. Asha Parek climbing 12 floors to meet Union Minister Gadhkari says it all. The Supreme Court recommended an
extremely high standard and the limitation of awards to a fixed number in each
category. This Government must restore its
value and dignity by making suitable changes in the criteria.
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