The Union Culture Ministry has said that obtaining a signed undertaking from writers prior to award announcement that they would not return the honour for any reason, including political protests, would compromise the confidentiality of the selection process.

It also expressed doubts before a Parliamentary Committee over the legal enforceability of such an undertaking.

The Ministry’s response came following the reiteration of a suggestion by the Department Related Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture that an undertaking should be taken beforehand from shortlisted candidates for Sahitya Akademi awards that they would not return the awards for “political reasons”.

The panel had made the recommendation in 2023 and reiterated it in its action-taken report tabled in the Lok Sabha on Monday (February 3, 2025).

In its response, the Culture Ministry said: “The Ministry agrees with the Committee’s perspective and would like to avoid controversies in all regards. However, obtaining a signed commitment from the writer prior to the award announcement would unfortunately compromise the confidentiality surrounding the selection process. Additionally, the legal enforceability of such a pre-declaration commitment might be uncertain.”

The Parliamentary committee said it understood the Ministry’s concern about confidentiality and legal implications related to obtaining signed commitments, but suggested that the commitment document should include a non-disclosure clause to protect against breach of confidentiality.

“Alternatively, the Ministry should explore other measures to prevent similar issues in the future. Additionally, a policy should be established to monitor artists who have returned their awards but remain affiliated with the Akademi,” the committee said.

In the report submitted on Monday (February 3, 2025), the committee noted the instances of recipients of awards given by Akademis such as the Sahitya Akademi returning their awards in protest against certain political issues which are outside the ambit of the cultural realms and the autonomous functioning of the Akademi concerned.

“Such inappropriate incidents involving the return of awards undermine the achievements of the other awardees and also impact the overall prestige and reputation of the awards,” the House panel said.

The Culture Ministry informed the committee that 39 writers returned their awards to the Sahitya Akademi in 2015. The awards were returned as a mark of protest over the killing of M.M. Kalburgi, an eminent writer from Karnataka.