the goan I network
PANAJI
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said that the it was the procedure in selecting the literary awards for Konkani that has been declared null and void and set aside on account of conflict of interest.
Speaking on the controversy surrounding the recent cancellation of awards of the Goa Konkani Academy, Parrikar said the process being declared null and void was not necessarily a judgement on the books that were chosen to be awarded.
"The people in the selection committee were the same ones who had done the shortlisting and they were the same people who had become judges. Even if there is one person with conflict of interest the full process is null and void," Parrikar said.
"Conflict is applicable for this. If my work is there for selection, I cannot be the one selecting it. Conflict of interest is very clear when you have a specific interest to be decided by you. You should either stay absent or you should not be the judge. In this case we found that there is a substantial conflict of interest. Therefore full process has been declared null and void. We have not rejected any of the awards," Parrikar said.
"Even in the cabinet (decisions) on five or six occasions when a conflict of interest arose, I have desisted from staying present. In one case a decision was about some relative of mine, I did not grant approval. I asked the seniormost minister to preside and I abstained from that
cabinet (meeting)," Parrikar said.
"So you should understand that the government can suspend the proceedings because of conflict of interest and not because of any particular... we are not even aware who has been selected. We have not opened the envelopes. They are sealed. When I checked up on the procedure I found this conflict of interest and therefore I told the department to cancel the full proceedings," Parrikar added.
Call for independent guidelines
PANAJI: Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said selection and shortlisting of awards should not be done by the Konkani Academy or its members but should be done by an independent body whose books should not be part of the selection.
He said he has asked the director of art and culture to draft independent guidelines.
"I've asked the Director of Higher Education to consult Director of Arts and Culture and Director of Official Language to draft a procedure that will govern all awards. They will give a me a proposal of the procedure," Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar announced. The committee will work out a plan of action to centralize the awards and decide guidelines to the awards of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Goa Konkani Akademi, Goa Marathi Akademi, Kala Academy etc.
The Goa Konkani Akademi Literacy awards for the year 2015 and 2016 in eight different categories and the Bhasha Seva Puraskar in eight different categories were earlier recommended by the committees concerned.
The government noted that the employees of Goa Konkani Akademi were in the selection committee for short listing of books and the same employees had recommended their own books for awards, thus showing a conflict of interest. The staff of Goa Konkani Akademi are also the beneficiaries of these awards and their opinion seemed to be biased they being the members of the selection committee.
