With the state reeling under severe drought questions pop-up as to whether the coveted annual Rajyotsava Awards which carries a cash-prize of Rs 1 lakh along with a 20 gram gold medallion will remain the same?
This year due to weak south-west monsoon, the state is facing drought and the water levels in the reservoirs have dipped compared to normal. A total of 142 taluks in Karnataka have been drought-affected.
In a similar case, the government had called off the Rajyotasva award function due to floods in some of the districts in the North Karnataka region in 2009. However, those selected were subsequently awarded in 2010.
The 57th Kannada Rajyotsava Award will be celebrated in a week’s time and the Department of Kannada and Culture has constituted an 18-member committee to finalise the list of awardees. The committee under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar will be meeting on Thursday.
Principal secretary of Department of Kannada and Culture B Basavaraju did not rule out the possibility of cutting expenditure on the awards. “The committee members may suggest reducing cash prize along with reducing the 20 gram gold medal into 10 gram. I cannot comment on it at this stage,” Basavaraju told Express.
He also said the number of awardees may be limited to 50. The rising gold prices has been cited as the major reason for the possible change.
According to the present gold price the cost of 20 gm of gold medal will be approximately `62,200.
Therefore, if the committee decides to give awards to 50 people, the department has to shell out `31.10 lakh just for the gold medal, apart from setting aside `50 lakh for cash prize.
According to Government Order (GO) dated September 22, Shettar along with deputy chief ministers R Ashok and K S Eshwarappa, Minister for Kannada and culture Govind M Karjol, Water Resources Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Energy Minister Shobha Karandlaje, Kannada Development Authority chairperson Mukhya Mantri Chandru, Kannada Book Authority chairperson Siddalingaiah, presidents of academies, secretary and commissioner of the Department of Kannada and Culture are the committee members.
