National Film Awards 2018 recipients who skipped ceremony yet to receive medals, citations by I&B Ministry

The 65th National Film Awards held in May this year became a centre stage for a row which started after around 60 awardees boycotted the ceremony  as a mark of protest. Their resentment stemmed from the fact that this year, the President of India presented the honour to only 11 out of all the winners while the rest were handed over the award by the then-Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Minister Smriti Irani and the current I&B Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore. _Read: National Film Awards 2018 winners call Ram Nath Kovind presenting only 11 honours 'infuriating'_ Now, it is reported by Mumbai Mirror that many of those who chose to skip the event have not received their medals and citations yet. [caption id=“attachment_4506545” align=“alignnone” width=“941”]  President Ram Nath Kovind confers Dadasaheb Phalke Award on veteran actor Vinod Khanna (posthumously), being received by his son Akshay Khanna and wife Kavita Khanna, during the 65th National Film Awards. Union I&B Minister Smriti Irani and MoS for I & B Rajyavardhan Rathore are also seen. PTI/Manvender Vashist[/caption] Filmmaker Praveen Morchhale, whose film Walking with the Wind had bagged the award for Best Film (Ladakhi), Best Sound Design and Best Re-recording, was among the 60 awardees who skipped the event. Speaking to Mumbai Mirror, he said that he, along with others, did not ‘boycott’ or disrespect anyone but simply decided to give the event a miss. He also said that the prize money had been transferred to his bank account online the day after the event, but the medal and the citation are yet to arrive. “While I have not officially enquired into the matter, I’m in touch with the other awardees who did not attend the ceremony. A few among them did make some calls to the clerical staff and they were unofficially told that the ministry has yet to arrive at a decision on whether the medal and citation should be couriered to us, we should collect it from the regional offices or have a representative pick it up from Delhi. There have been no calls or emails, no official communication of any kind since 3 May,” says Morchhale, as reported by Mumbai Mirror. However, a source from the I&B Ministry told Mirror that the government is not holding back and the winners will get their reward in due time. ( Also read: National Film Awards 2018 complete winners list: Sridevi named Best Actress; Newton is Best Hindi Film )