Paralympics silver medalist H N Girisha, writer Boluvar Mohammed Kunhi, orator Hiremagalur Kannan and centenarian Vedic scholar Sudhakar Chaturvedi are among 57 individuals who are selected for this year’s Kannada Rajyotsava Awards to be presented in the city today. Seven organisations would also be honoured for their contributions.
Though the state government had initially decided to restrict the number of awardees to 50, it raised it to 57 to coincide with the 57th Rajyotsava.
Kannada and Culture Minister Govind Karjol said all the awardees are aged above 50 years, except in the sports category. A committee comprising 20 members, including chairpersons of various academies and ministers prepared the list.
Karjol said the award comprises Rs 1 lakh and 20 gram gold.
“There was pressure to give awards. This time, awardees have been selected from all the districts, except Koppal,” he said.