Eight sitting members from the Lok Sabha members and two sitting members of the Rajya Sabha will be presented the Sansad Ratna Awards 2020 under various categories, based on their performance during the first year of the 17th Lok Sabha, the Prime Point Foundation said on Wednesday.
Apart from individual MPs, the Departmental Related Standing Committee on Agriculture headed by P.C. Gaddigoudar (BJP MP from Bagalkot, Karnataka) has been chosen for the Sansad Ratna Awards 2020 for their performance in the 17th Lok Sabha.
The Prime Point Foundation has been awarding top performing Members of Parliament (MP) in the Lok Sabha with the Sansad Ratna award since 2010 following the suggestion of former President late A. P. J.Abdul Kalam.
The first edition of the Sansad Ratna Award was launched in the year 2010 by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.
Supriya Sule, the NCP MP from Baramati, Maharashtra was selected for the Sansad Ratna Award 2020 for her overall performance in initiating debates, the number of questions asked and the Private Members Bills in the 1st year of the 17th Lok Sabha.
MP from Dhule, Maharashtra Subhash Ramrao Bhamre (BJP), Maharashtra’s Nandurbar MP Heena Gavi (BJP), and Shirur MP Amol Ramsing Kolhe (NCP) will be receiving the Sansad Ratna Award 2020 for Questions, Women and First-time MPs categories respectively.
Congress MP representing Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, Dr. Shashi Tharoor, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey representing Godda, Jharkhand, Ajay Misra of BJP representing Kheri, Uttar Pradesh and Ram Mohan Naidu of TDP representing Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh have been nominated for the ”Jury Committee Special Award” for their overall qualitative performance and individual efforts, the statement said.
The Members of the Rajya Sabha who have been nominated for the award based on their overall performance during the first year, coinciding with the Lok Sabha are Vishambhar Prasad Nishad belonging to the Samajwadi Party (Uttar Pradesh) and Chhaya Verma of Congress (Chhattisgarh).
The category of honouring the sitting MPs of the Rajya Sabha has been introduced this year.
According to Prime Point Foundation, Bhartruhari Mahtab (BJD, Cuttack, Odisha), Supriya Sule (NCP, Baramati, Maharashtra) and Shrirang Appa Barne (Shiv Sena, Maval, Maharashtra) will be receiving the coveted ”Sansad Maha Ratna Award” for their sustained qualitative performance in the 16th Lok Sabha. This Award is presented once in five years.
The awardees were selected by a three member Jury Committee chaired by Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs.
The other two members are parliamentarians N. K. Premachandran and Shrirang Appa Barne.
All the three Jury Members have been outstanding Parliamentarians and recipients of the Sansad Ratna Awards in the previous Lok Sabha.
According to Meghwal, recognition and performance review of parliamentarians by the civil society helps strengthen democracy.
He also said the people after electing the parliamentarians and legislators have a moral responsibility to monitor their performance.
The date of the awards presentation event will be announced later once normalcy comes back after Covid-19 pandemic, K. Srinivasan, Chairman of the Prime Point Foundation and Sansad Ratna Awards Committee said.