#dnaEdit: Lobbying for awards

The sports ministry has cut a sorry figure in recommending ace shuttler Saina Nehwal for the Padma Bhushan after the badminton star went public with her dismay at not being nominated for the award. By buckling down despite the last date for submitting nominations to the home ministry expiring on September 15 last, the sports ministry’s action sends the wrong message to those who take the path of lobbying to win these prestigious awards. Saina was upset that wrestler Sushil Kumar, who was awarded the Padma Shri in 2011 a year after her in 2010, was being nominated for the Padma Bhushan while she was ignored. Saina also compared her sporting achievements with Sushil and bemoaned that the mandatory five-year gap between Padma awards that purportedly scuttled her nomination was not applied to Sushil. Not to be left behind, boxer Vijender Singh has also waded into the controversy demanding that his claim to the award not be overlooked. Sports minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who has had a rather ordinary tenure at the ministry, must take responsibility for the fiasco. It is clearly a case of populism setting off a bad precedent and boomeranging on a weak-kneed politician.

But long before Sonowal, many other eminent citizens had already muddied the murky waters surrounding the Padma awards. From its inception, it has acted as a tool of nepotism, for rewarding favourites. Central ministries, parliamentarians, state governments, sports and cultural bodies, and former Bharat Ratna and Padma Vibhushan winners recommend over a 1,000 persons every year for the Padma awards. An RTI application showed that the Union home ministry received a whopping 1,300 Padma nominations in 2012-13 with some of the most eminent citizens of the country recommending multiple persons and even near and dear ones for the award. In Saina’s case, the question arises why she or any other sportsperson would feel entitled to the Padma awards despite the government instituting specific sports awards like the Arjuna and Rajiv Khel Ratna awards. In fact, it can be argued that the biggest honour and recognition for sportspersons are the medals received for their sporting exploits while the competition for such State awards is idle distraction. On the flip side, it can be argued that the hankering for such awards is driven by largesse like free and concessional rail and air travel. These awards even serve as criteria for preferential state government allotment of land, housing, and grants. 

The Padma rush has not spared film actors, cine technicians, businessmen, or even journalists. Many journalists, surprisingly, had no qualms about accepting State awards. In fact, in many categories like arts, cinema, sports, defence and business, there are several prestigious central government awards on offer. But more the merrier appears to have become the motto driving the Padma awards. In June last, the home ministry took note that many exceptionally talented persons were missing out because they were publicity-shy unlike undeserving persons making it to the awards list. There is an urgent need to reform this nomination process, especially for the Padma Shri. The government should decide if the power to nominate must be restricted to a chosen few as the large number of nominations is doing no one any favours. It is imperative to make public service an important criteria for the Padma awards because individual excellence is already being rewarded by various categories of awards. When nominations for the nation’s third highest civilian award are granted to mollify bruised egos, its utility to the State and its citizens comes under question.