New Delhi: In a major blow to Congress, Modi government has now decided to remove the names of former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi from the annual awards list given by the MHA on Hindi Diwas.
As per reports, the awards which were earlier presented as ‘Indira Gandhi Rajbhasha Puraskar’ and ‘Rajiv Gandhi Rashtriya Gyan-Vigyan Maulik Pustak Lekhan Puraskar’ will now be known as ‘Rajbhasha Kirti Puraskar’ and ‘Rajbhasha Gaurav Puraskar’, respectively.
The order was sent to all states, ministries, PMO, President’s Secretariat, Cabinet Secretariat and Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha Secretariats. The change also finds a mention in an MHA booklet on its ‘300-day achievements’.
Following the removal of names, Congress has already raised a hue-and-cry over the subject and called it an act of central government’s “political vindictiveness”.
Congress has demanded to know why the names of the former prime ministers were dropped and blamed the Modi government of being parochial and petty.
Kiren Rijiju, MoS at MHA, however, said the discarding of the former prime ministers’ names from the awards was an administrative decision and not a political one.
He said the MHA had remodelled the awards scheme and fused four schemes to two for enhancing its status by making for relevant.
The awards are given by the Ministry of Home Affairs each year on ‘Hindi Diwas’ for progressive use of the language in government.