Bhubaneswar: Dharmapada Puraskar, the prestigious award conferred by Orissa Lalit Kala Akademi on artists par excellence is yet to get released from the shackles of judicial scrutiny. The coveted award could not be bestowed on anyone since 2008 as the state has been witnessing deaths of eminent artists chosen for the award.
The award is the highest honour of the state conferred on Oriya artists for their lifetime achievements and contributions towards conservation, propagation and development of art and crafts tradition of Orissa. It carries a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh.
The Akademi had last instituted the award in 2007, according to sources. Out of seven artists, the state has witnessed deaths of three eminent personalities. While Dinanath Pathy died in 2016, Asim Basu and Gokul Bihari Patnaik died this year. The Culture department is clueless as to when the artists who have already been selected for the award will actually be getting the prestigious award.
Dinanath was chosen for the award for his lifetime contribution to Orissa’s art and craft in 2014. Though his name was declared for the award in 2015, the department failed to confer the award on him till his death in 2016.
Likewise, famous theatre artiste and director, art director, painter and playwright Asim Basu was selected for Dharmapada Award for the year 2010 and his name was made public in 2015. However, the award could not be conferred on him due to the running controversy and he breathed his last February 1, 2017.
Moreover, Pattachitra artist Gokul Bihari Patnaik was selected for the award for 2009, but he also died recently. Only four artists – Durgaprasad Das, Jatin Das, Padma Bibhushan Raghunath Mohapatra and Padmashree Sudarsan Sahoo – are surviving now.
There have been criticisms from several quarters over the stalemate on the issue which has left creative personalities in a neglected state.
The Akademi had instituted the award in 1987. However, the award ran into controversies in 2008. The matter went to the court. After five years, an executive meeting of the Akademi in 2013 decided to re-institute the award from 2009 retrospectively. But this decision could not be translated into action due to several unspecified reasons. Now, the matter is sub-judice.
Not only Dharmapada, several other awards could not be conferred on the personalities due to the running controversy. Artists like Harisinha Babu, Debaraj Sahu, Sharat Kumar Rath and Chitra Patnaik had died and could not be felicitated by the Akademi.
There were several rounds of discussions with Padmanabh Behera, who had filed a petition in the Orissa High Court, and the Akademi and Culture department officials, but to no avail.
Grapevines have it that a group of dissatisfied people are hatching a conspiracy to delay the re-institution of Dharmapada awards.
Akademi secretary Tarakant Parida said, “We are pulling out all the stops to re-institute the award, but the court cases hinder the initiatives. As a result, nomination for Dharmapada
Award for the years 2016 and 2017 was not possible.”
Post News Network
