From Kalam To YSR And Back: Jagan Reddy-Led Andhra Government Scraps Order To Rename Awards After Furore

The YS Jagan Mohan-led Andhra Pradesh government seems to have created an avoidable controversy when it redesignated ‘Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Pratibha Puraskar Awards’ as ‘YSR Vidya Puraskars’, resulting in hasty U-turn and embarrassment on Tuesday (5 November) following criticism from various quarters, reports Hindustan Times.

A government order released on Monday (4 November) announced that the prestigious award named after the ‘Missile Man’ of India was being renamed after the former chief minister and Jagan Mohan’s father Y S Rajashekar Reddy, who died in a plane crash in 2009.

“The government has ordered to re-designate the ‘Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Pratibha Puraskar Awards’ as ‘YSR Vidya Puraskars’ from 2019 onwards for distribution on the occasion of birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad as National Education Day on November 11, 2019,” read an order tweeted by news agency ANI.

Immediately Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu tweeted, “Dr Kalam has accomplished much for the nation with his inspiring life. @ysjagan’s govt changing ‘APJ Abdul Kalam Pratibha Puraskar’ to ‘YSR Vidya Puraskar’ is a shocking method of self-aggrandisement at the cost of disrespecting a much venerated man.”

BJP leader Lanka Dinakar said, “This award is felicitated to the 10th standard students for their outstanding performance, on the occasion of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam’s birth anniversary. Unfortunately, the name of this award has changed. This shows utmost arrogance in the decision taken by the state government by disrespecting the great scientist and former president of our nation by replacing his name with the name of former CM and father of current CM YS Rajashekar Reddy.”

Jagan Mohan government has changed names of several schemes from ‘NTR Bharosa’ was renamed ‘YSR pension kanuka’, ‘Anna canteens’ were renamed ‘Rajanna canteens’ and midday meal scheme is now called ‘YSR Akshaya Patra’.