The National Awards 2018 event has taken a shocking turn after the announcement that President Ramnath Kovind will be handing over only 11 awards out of the total 140 awards did not go well with the awardees who have now threatened to boycott the function.
According to Mumbai Mirror, this year’s National Film awards changed the 64-year-old custom of the ceremony when it was announced that the President of India will be there for the ceremony for just one hour and will be honouring only 11 awardees.
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The rest 129 recipients will be given the award by Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani, Minister of State, Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Secretary, Information and Broadcasting, Narendra Kumar Sinha.
Confirming the news to a Mumbai daily, Smriti Irani said, “Handing over 75 awards in various categories followed by photographs with every winner is time-consuming.”
The entire incident has not gone well with the winners, who believe this change of custom is an insult to the six-decade-old tradition. The awardees have threatened to boycott the ceremony after the announcement was made official on Thursday morning.
After a full rehearsal on Wednesday, the National Award winners found the announcement shocking.
The two-hour ceremony will commence at 3:30 pm on Thursday at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi.
Apparently, President Kovind will be arriving at the ceremony at 5:30 pm and pose for the customary photo with the winners in groups of 45.