THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Centre’s decision to dump majority of the Padma award recommendations made by the state government has come in for sharp criticism from Cultural Affairs Minister A K Balan. ‘’Rejecting the state government’s list mercilessly and then deciding on the basis of a list obtained from elsewhere...you cannot call it a decent or dignified approach,’’ Balan said in the Assembly on Wednesday. The state government had not recommended tribal physician Lakshmikutty, one of the eventual winners from the state, Balan said. The government was also unaware that the Padma awards were given for contributions in such fields, he said.
‘’Tomorrow they might give it for magic or palmistry,’’ he said. Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala also condemned the Centre’s decision to reject the state’s list almost in its entirety. The matter came up in the Assembly through a submission made by K S Sabarinadhan MLA. Sabarinadhan, who represents Aruvikkara, wanted the state government to establish a tribal treatment centre and museum in Lakshmikutty’s name at Kallar in Thiruvananthapuram. Balan was non-committal on the demand, but said the Kerala Institute for Research, Training & Development Studies of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (KIRTADS) has listed around 250 adept tribal physicians.
The January 25 announcements had come as a shocker to the state government after 41 of the 42 names nominated by it were rejected. Only Philipose Mar Chrysostom, the senior metropolitan of the Mar Thoma Church, was selected by the Centre from the state list. He was named for the Padma Bhushan. None of the other three eventual winners - Hindutva ideologue P Parameswaran (Padma Vibushan), tribal physician Lakshmikutty (Padma Shri) and palliative care expert M R Rajagopal (Padma Shri) - were recommended by the state government. The state government had recommended M T Vasudevan Nair for the Padma Vibushan and Mammooty and Mohanlal, among others, for the Padma Bhushan.