Goa govt scraps 2015-16 literature awards selection process

The Goa government has scrapped the selection process for 2015-16 awards for Konkani literature. The awards were not given despite shortlisting ofnames, as there were allegations that some members of theselection committee recommended their own books.

Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar last week asked the Official Language Department to declare the selection processas "null and void". "Instructions from the chief minister are clear --the selection process should be held null?and void due tothe controversies," a senior official of the department said.

"It has been suggested that henceforth there will beonly one centralised selection committee for all suchawards," he added. State-run literature bodies Goa Konkani Academy and? Gomantak Marathi Academy as well as the Directorate of Artand Culture will have their representatives on this committee,he said.

The awards for 2015-16 were to be given in sixteencategories. "Members of short-listing committee recommended theirown books for the award in one of the categories," said theofficial.

The government was also unhappy as the selectioncommittee members leaked the information about the selectionof a book penned by renowned writer and former MLA Vishnu Surya Wagh, the official said. `Sudirsukt', Wagh's poetry collection, had run into acontroversy with some communities in the state takingexception to their portrayal in the poems.