If you truly deserve an award/recognition, and an eminent credible agency with proven National credentials is prepared to bestow on you, go and get it. But if you don’t consider worthy of an award and some one is offering you because your organisation had paid to the agency to get that award or the awarding agency has had some extraneous agenda behind it, I recommend, don’t go running to the stage and make a mockery of yourself. You will not only end-up lowering yourself in the eyes of peers and subordinates who deeply know your actual worth, but more so, you shall continue to feel guilty within, which is far more damaging to your inner conscious, unless you have long detached yourself from your ‘being’.
It is a booming market galore of awards and recognitions in India. There are much over two lakhs registered/unregistered NGOs. They coin their names with a social purpose. If registered as Trust and Society, it does not mean that they have been recognised by the Government of India. Admittedly, a good number of these NGOs are doing a very good job.
However, quite a large number are unscrupulous bodies and “Sammitties” whose prime lever is to resort to organising events to bestow awards to serve their veiled self-serving purpose-get more publicity/receive more funds/donations/political patronage to cover their backside.
In addition, over the past few years, a number of start-ups and private companies/enterprises/print media agencies/bodies have mushroomed in the country whose prime job is giving awards and recognitions at a bidding price. All they do is to create a dozen or two of high sounding names of prizes, say, ‘son of the soil’ ‘Vishav Guru’ emerging young leader’ ‘distinguished academic leader’, ‘institute of eminence’. You can even manufacture/select any name of the award you wish to receive. They work on their respective unique models. Often they manage a retired dignitary at a price on the stage to handover an award. Some even succeed in getting publicity-seeking politicians on a stage.
You will agree that we must try and maintain an academic dignity. We must not mislead our innocent students who look for a truly good credential institute during the time of their admissions. Often those who fail to get “A” grade in NAAC or a good rank in NIRF or a reasonably good ranking in THE/QS, take the crutches offered by the unscrupulous award-dishing agencies.
I’m of the opinion that you deserving faculty must surely go for credible National and International Govt. bodies and Research organisations, Govt Ministries, Regulatory Bodies, present your credentials very well, and by all means, get the award you deserve.
-Prof JR Sharma (My personal views solely focussed to improving our institutions ethics eco-system)
