Bhubaneswar, Jan 16 (PTI): The Odisha government will provide a monthly honorarium of Rs 30,000 to each of the Padma awardees of the state from the current month.

The Odia Language Literature and Culture Department issued a notification to this effect on Thursday.

In view of their outstanding contribution to society in various fields, the state government has decided to provide an honorarium of Rs 30,000 to the Padma awardees, the notification said.

All the Padma awardees of the state, who are alive, will receive the honorarium through direct benefit transfer (DBT) mode from January 2025, it said.

The government has asked collectors and culture officers of all districts to submit details of the Padma award winners (who are alive) including the district collector's certificate, bank account details, IFSC code to the Directorate of Odia, Language, Literature and Culture as soon as possible.

In March last year, the previous BJD government had announced a monthly honorarium of Rs 25,000 for the Padma awardees from Odisha. However, it was not implemented yet, an official of the department said.

In November last year, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi had decided to provide Rs 30,000 to the Padma awardees of the state. Accordingly, the formal notification was published on Thursday, he said.

The Padma Award was introduced in 1954. The award is given to personalities for their outstanding contribution in the fields of arts, education, science, sports, social work, public service, medicine, literature, etc.

As per the Padma Awards website of the Ministry of Home Affairs, till now, the President has conferred Padma awards on 105 eminent personalities from Odisha, which includes 90 Padma Shri, 11 Padma Bhushan and four Padma Vibhushan.

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New Delhi: The Congress party, which recently launched its “Vote Chori” (vote theft) campaign demanding transparency in voter rolls, has released a promotional video on Instagram featuring actor Kay Kay Menon.

The video was shared with the caption: “Himmat Singh kuch keh rahe hain, jaldi se kar aao! Band karo”, translated as “Himmat Singh is saying something, go and do it quickly! Stop it.” It was followed by instructions to join the campaign: “To join the campaign — click the link in the bio or give a missed call to 9650003420.”

Himmat Singh is the name of the intelligence officer character portrayed by Kay Kay Menon in the Hotstar Specials series Special Ops.

The “Vote Chori” campaign, led by Congress Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, alleges large-scale manipulation in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, particularly in Karnataka’s Bangalore Central constituency, through fake voter entries, duplicate names, and invalid addresses. The campaign portal, votechori.in, enables citizens to access alleged evidence, report voter list discrepancies, and receive a digital certificate supporting the demand for machine-readable digital voter rolls.

The Election Commission has rejected the allegations as “false and misleading” and has asked Gandhi to either provide a signed declaration with supporting evidence under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, or issue a public apology. The BJP has described the campaign as a political stunt.

 
 
 
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