The government handed over a demand draft to late Rajkumar's wife, an awardee of the Kittur Rani Channamma Award. Only problem was it had expired
The government handed over a demand draft to late Rajkumar's wife, an awardee of the Kittur Rani Channamma Award. Only problem was it had expired
Parvathamma Rajkumar, one of the 21 awardees of the Kittur Rani Channamma Award, was presented with a dud demand draft (DD) by the government on Saturday.
"Government officials hurriedly handed over a DD for Rs 10,000 and insisted we encash it immediately," said source close to Parvathamma, wife of late thespian Dr Rajkumar.
When the DD was taken to the bank, they found it had expired.u00a0
"It was an insult for us," the source added.
Parvathamma herself refused to comment and is said to be so upset that she has decided not to accept the award even if the government arranges a function.
Too late
The award, instituted in the name of the valiant queen who fought the British, is traditionally given to women achievers on March 8, International Women's Day.
But, government officials forgot to organise the function this year after announcing the awards since everyone was busy with the parliamentary elections.
They suddenly woke up to their lapse on Saturday (June 20). But it was too late as the DDs had been signed in March and had expired after the three-month period.
They rushed to Parvathamma's residence, hoping the bank would consider her stature and make an exception. When she asked about the certificate, they said it had not been printed and she would get it later.
Raw deal
"If they really want to honour women, they should have organised a function to give away the awards," said Jayamala, president of Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce, and last year's awardee. "It is raw deal for a person like Parvathamma."
Oops!P M Narendra Swamy, minister for women and child development, admitted the lapse and said they would make amends. "There is a lapse at the officer's stage and I will rectify it. I will ask the officers to re-validate the DD and organise the awards function soon."
"We should not have gone to her with the DD when the award certificate was not printed and the DD had expired," said an officer in the department.
"However, the minister has taken it seriously and we will apologise to all the awardees," he said.
