President of India is used in Award Fraud

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

President of India has been used in a fraud perpetrated in the matter of selection of Subrat Kumar Prusti for Maharshi Badrayan Vyas Samman 2019 for Classical Odia. Whosoever has recommended his name, has given a false declaration on his character and antecedents, as otherwise the President of India could never have selected him for the award.

The Ministry of Human Resources Development, Government of India invited names of scholars for this award, in a letter to (1) All Secretaries of Govt. of India, (2)The Chief Secretaries of all State Governments/UTs, (3)The Education Secretaries of all the State Governments/UTs, (4) The Vice-Chancellors of all India Universities/Deemed to be Universities, (5) All awardees of Certificate of Honor and (6) All Vice-Chancellors of the State Universities in A.P., Karnataka, Keral and Odisha. They were requested to recommend the names of only those scholars of eminence “in the enclosed proforma for recommendation” while underlining that, “recommendations for Maharshi Badrayan Vyas Samman may be made only for those young scholars who have made a breakthrough in inter-disciplinary studies involving contribution of Sanskrit or ancient Indian wisdom , to the process of synergy between modernity & tradition”. It was further stipulated that the “recommendations should clearly bring out the specific achievement for which the award is recommended and may please be sent along with character & antecedent certificate of the scholar in the proforma enclosed”. The State Government etc may set up “an expert committee for preliminary selection of scholars, the guideline had stressed.

All these qualities are conspicuous by their absence in the matter of Subrat Kumar Prusty. Orissa Government has not recommended his name. Last year, he had given his CV to the State Government for recommendation. The Govt. had appointed an Expert Committee for his preliminary selection; but the Committee had refused to recommend him with the observation that, the “CV of Sri Subrat Kumar Prusty does not reflect any outstanding contribution to the field of research in Classical Odia Language & Literature”. This being the case, this year the State Government has not recommended his name for the Samman, 2019.

Despite this, when his name has already been announced for the Samman, it is obvious that the central Selection Committee has been misled with a manipulated recommendation made behind back of the State Government by somebody who must have given a false declaration in the Character & antecedent Certificate. This Certificate being prerequisite to selection of the recommended person for the Award, it is stipulated that, the recommending authority must have to say that the person so recommended bears a good moral character and he has “no case pending against him in any Court of Law”. Prusty is involeved in a criminal case and the case is pending in the Court of the SDJM, Bhubaneswar.

In my letter to the Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resources Development, Government of India dated the 9th September as well as to the Secretary to the President even earlier on the 5th September, I had raised objection to his selection on this ground as well as on the ground that, my research has exposed the stealing of the State Document on Classical Odia by Prusty and his associates, a matter now under investigation by the State. I am yet to hear from both these Secretaries in this important and urgent matter.

As the announcement of the Award for Prusty is not yet nullified on records, it is clear that, as on now, the President of India is used in this Award Fraud.

Presidential award for Classical Odia to a person who is alleged to have stolen the official document on Classical Odia shall not at all be countenanced.

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