Goa Minister Fails To Recognise Women In Cultural Awards, Faces Flak

Female actors from Goa's performing arts industry have recently demanded that the Art and Culture Minister Govind Gaude be removed from the cabinet, as he allegedly insulted women by not recognising their talent in this year's Goa State Cultural Awards. The actresses noted that not a single woman was nominated for the awards this year, and Gaude allegedly gave the reason for this that none of the female artists were "capable" this year. Filmmaker-actor Jyoti Kunkolienkar along with acclaimed actor Suchita Narvekar, professor Prajal Sakhardande and activist Auda Viegas addressed this in a press conference on Wednesday.

"Initially, we reacted by expressing what we felt over this issue. Subsequently, the minister (countering us) reacted to our statement and said that there were no ‘capable’ women who would deserve the award. He also questioned whether there is any rule that awards should be given to women,” Kunkolienkar said, questioning whether there is any rule that awards should be given only to men.

Minister's Indifference To Women 

According to the female actors at the conference, Govind Gaude alleged that thousands of applications poured in this year, while in reality there was a maximum limit of 120 applications. “I request Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to come clear over the issue and declare the names of those who had applied for the awards,” Jyoti Kunkolienkar said.

Along the same lines, actress Suchita Navrekar asked why there were no women winners if there were thousands of applications this year. She also said that when they brought this up with the minister, he dismissed their concern with a sarcastic remark.

Suchita Navrekar recalled that Gaude also said that the award is "not a panchayat election for 33% reservation to women." She commented on this saying, “We are not asking for 33 per cent reservation for women for state awards. We are speaking on this issue because women too deserve these awards."

The actress further requested the Goa Chief Minister to take action against his cabinet ministers with such a regressive attitude towards women artists. “I request Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to drop such a minister who doesn’t know how to respect women,” Narvekar said.

Allegedly, Govind Gaude said that a selection committee was appointed to confer the nominations and said "Awards are given based on merit," he said.