PRESIDENT TO AWARD ONLY 11 NATIONAL AWARDS OUT OF 140

The official ceremony of the National Film Awards set to happen in Delhi today, May 3, will be slightly different from the earlier versions of the ceremony - and the difference has led to a possible issue in the proceedings.

According to reports, President Ram Nath Kovind will be handing out only 11 awards out of the total 140 owing to time constraints, in addition to which he will participate in a short photo session with the awardees. Since he apparently has only an hour to spare for the ceremony, the rest of the awards will be presented by Information & Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani, Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Narendra Kumar Sinha, Secretary, Information & Broadcasting.

The awardees were upset when they came to know about this at the rehearsals held on Wednesday, the reports add.

There is no official announcement regarding this issue from any of the awardees. Stay tuned to this space for further updates.