Nagpur: Pramod Munghate, a professor of Marathi at the RSTM Nagpur University here, today said he had returned a literary award given by the Maharashtra government with the prize money of Rs 10,000 to protest "atmosphere of intolerance".

Several writers across the country, including a few from Maharashtra, have returned their government awards in the recent weeks to protest 'rising intolerance' in the wake of the murder of Kannada scholar-writer M M Kalburgi and the Dadri lynching incident.