Govt forms committee to design certificate, medal

Thiruvananthapuram: The government has constituted a five-member committee of experts to design the decorum, certificate and the medal for the recently instituted Kerala Awards, on the lines of the Padma Awards of the Centre.The committee comprises noted sculptor Kanayi Kunhiraman, filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan, architect Shankar,

Kerala Lalithakala Akademi

chairman Nemom Pushparaj and Lalithakala Akademi secretary P V Balan. The committee has been mandated to locate a suitable artist for designing the decorum, certificate and medal and submit the model for clearance of the general administration department. Once the government clears the design and the model, it will be finalized and will be permanently the award’s identity. The award will be conferred from the current year.The cabinet had in October last year decided to institute state government’s awards on the lines of Padma Awards that will be conferred on those who have excelled and made exemplary contributions to the society in various fields from the state. The government had decided to confer three types of awards -Kerala Jyothi,

Kerala Prabha

and Kerala Sri. While

Kerala Jyothi

will be conferred on one person, Kerala Prabha and

Kerala Sri

awards will be given to two and five individuals, respectively. The notification inviting the entries will be issued in April, and the awards will be conferred at Raj Bhavan on November 1, every year. The award winners will be selected after a screening by a primary and a secondary award committee.