The Center has dropped the names of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and actress Nargis Dutt from the National Film Awards.
The Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film and the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration have been renamed.
The 'Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film Director' shall henceforth be known as 'Best Debut Film Award'.
The Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film for National Integration shall henceforth be known as the Best Feature Film Award for Promoting National, Social and Environmental Values.
The categories for social issues and environmental protection will be merged into this category and made into a single award.
The name change is on the recommendation of the committee formed to consolidate and change the awards given in various categories by the Union Ministry of Information and Communications. The decision was made by a committee consisting of director Priyadarshan.
Neerja Shekhar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Information and Communications, is the chairman of the committee. Other members of the committee are directors Priyadarshan, Vipul Shah, Haobam Pabhan Kumar, Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chief Prasoon Joshi, cinematographer S Nallamuthu, joint secretary of the Ministry of Communications Prithul Kumar and director (finance) of the ministry Kamlesh Kumar Sinha.
