Gomant Vibhushan Award

What is the Gomant Vibhushan Award?

Gomant Vibhushan Award is the highest civilian honour of the Government of Goa, framed by notification DAC/CS-5/GOM-VIB/Scheme/2015-16/7986 and administered by the Directorate of Art and Culture under the Art, Culture and Museums Department.

The award was designed to honour and recognise Goan renowned personalities who have contributed distinguished and extraordinary achievements or services in any field of activity, art and culture, literature and education, sports, medicine, social work, civil services, public affairs, trade, science and engineering, industry, economics, philosophy, politics, or any other field; at national and international level.

Two features separate Gomant Vibhushan from every other Goa state honour. First, it is not confined to the arts. A nuclear scientist, an architect and a novelist have all received it. Second, it is given once in two years, not annually, which is what keeps its standing high.

The scheme's stated objectives are:

1. To honour Goan-origin personalities who have done admirable and exceptional work in their field.
2. To felicitate Goan personalities who made Goa proud by their achievements and reputation and brought recognition to Goa nationally and internationally.

What the awardee receives

• Financial purse of Rs 5,00,000 (Rupees five lakh only).
• A memento.
• A citation and certificate of appreciation.

Who is eligible for the Gomant Vibhushan Award?

A person can be considered if:

• The person is of Goan origin. The notification states that all persons of Goan origin are eligible without distinction of race, occupation, position, age or sex.
• The person has distinguished and exceptional achievements or services in any field of activity or discipline.
• That achievement has been recognised at national or international level.

A person cannot be considered, or is not eligible, if:

• The person is not of Goan origin. This is the one criterion the scheme applies without any relaxation of substance.
• The person has already received the Gomant Vibhushan Award once. The notification states that no individual shall be eligible a second time to avail the benefit under this scheme.
• The nomination is posthumous from the outset. No award is presented posthumously under the scheme, with a single exception described below.
• The achievement is local or sectional in scope without national or international recognition. That is the standard the notification sets, and it is what distinguishes Gomant Vibhushan from the Goa State Cultural Award.

The one posthumous exception: if, during the process of selection, the death of a person occurs after the recommendation of the name, the Task Force Committee may still consider the name, and in such circumstances the award is presented posthumously.

Note also that there is no age bar. Unlike the Goa State Cultural Award, which requires the artist to have completed 60 years, Gomant Vibhushan is open without distinction of age.

What documents are required?

Who can recommend a name?

The Department of Art and Culture invites recommendations by releasing an advertisement in the local newspapers. Recommendations are accepted from a wide set of sources:

• The Chief Minister and the Governor of Goa
• Ministers of the Government of Goa
• Members of the Legislative Assembly
• Members of Parliament
• Government departments of Goa
• Private individuals and bodies

Beyond that, the committee constituted for the purpose of the scheme may take suo motu cognizance of the lifetime achievement or contribution of an eminent personality of Goan origin whose proposal has not been received at all. A deserving name is not lost simply because nobody filed a form for it.

How to apply for or recommend someone for the Gomant Vibhushan Award

1. Watch for the advertisement released by the Department of Art and Culture in the local newspapers inviting recommendations for the Gomant Vibhushan Award.
2. Obtain the prescribed proforma: print it from the Directorate of Art and Culture website or collect a hard copy from the Directorate at 5th Floor, Shram Shakti Bhavan, Patto, Panaji, Goa 403001.
3. Fill in all mandatory fields, paste the passport-size photograph and sign it across, and set out the person's field, Goan origin, and the record of distinguished achievement at national or international level.
4. Attach self-attested copies of the proof of Goan origin, the detailed biodata, any supporting evidence of recognition, and bank account details.
5. Submit the completed recommendation to the Director or the ACO-III, Directorate of Art and Culture, phone 0832-2404606, email aco6-dac.goa@nic.in, and keep a copy of everything filed.

How is the awardee selected and honoured?

Selection Committee. The Government constitutes a Selection Committee under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister of Goa. The committee meets as and when required, considers both the recommendations received and any names it takes up suo motu, makes the selection of the Gomant Vibhushan awardee, and submits its recommendation to the Director of Art and Culture. The term of the committee is decided by the Government from time to time.

Acceptance. Once the selection process is over, the Director of Art and Culture obtains the acceptance of the person concerned to receive the Gomant Vibhushan Award. This step matters — the award is not announced first and confirmed later.

Felicitation. After that acceptance is received, the Director of Art and Culture honours the personality by presenting the memento, the certificate of appreciation and the financial purse of Rs 5,00,000 at a felicitation programme organised by the Department of Art and Culture, with the due approval of the Government.

Who has received the Gomant Vibhushan Award?

The Directorate of Art and Culture lists these recipients:

The spread across nuclear science, architecture, industrial research, literature and painting is the clearest illustration of how broadly the scheme reads "any field of activity".

What discretion does the Government retain?

The notification reserves three powers to the Government, and each can affect a nomination:

• Framing of guidelines. For better implementation of the scheme, the Government may frame guidelines from time to time.
• Relaxation. The Government is supported to relax all or any clause of the scheme if found deemed fit, for reasons to be recorded.
• Interpretation. If any question arises regarding the interpretation of any clause, word, expression or the entire scheme, the decision on interpretation lies with the Government.

Why a recommendation may not succeed

• The person is not of Goan origin, which ends the matter.
• The achievement is not at national or international level, so it falls below the standard the notification sets.
• The person has already received the award and cannot receive it again.
• A fresh posthumous nomination is filed, which the scheme does not accept.
• The recommendation arrives outside the advertised window for the two-year cycle.
• The Selection Committee does not find a suitable candidate in a given cycle, since selection is a judgement of the committee chaired by the Chief Minister and not an entitlement.

Where to get help

• Directorate of Art and Culture, 5th Floor, Shram Shakti Bhavan, Patto, Panaji, Goa 403001 to phone 0832-2404600, email dir-dac.goa@nic.in.
• ACO-III, Directorate of Art and Culture, phone 0832-2404606, email aco6-dac.goa@nic.in, for the proforma and the current cycle's advertisement.
• Grievances: if any grievance arises out of the implementation of this scheme, the Minister for Art and Culture hears and decides the matter, and the decision of the Minister in this regard is final under the notification.

How to check the status of a Gomant Vibhushan recommendation

There is no online tracking portal or reference number for a Gomant Vibhushan recommendation, since the award runs on a two-year advertised cycle rather than a rolling application process. Status has to be followed up the same offline way the recommendation itself was filed.

1. Keep the acknowledgement copy. When the recommendation is submitted to the Director or the ACO-III, ask for the submission to be acknowledged or keep a signed photocopy with the date of filing. There is no separate receipt or tracking slip issued.
2. Call or email the ACO-III desk. Phone 0832-2404606 or write to aco6-dac.goa@nic.in, quoting the recommended person's name, the field of achievement, and the date the proforma was submitted, to confirm it has been logged for the current cycle.
3. Watch for the Selection Committee's cycle. The committee, chaired by the Chief Minister, meets as and when required rather than on a fixed calendar, so a recommendation can sit for months before it is taken up. There is no interim "under review" status to check; the recommendation is simply pending until the committee meets for that cycle.
4. Acceptance comes before any public announcement. If a name is selected, the Director of Art and Culture first contacts the person to obtain their acceptance. The recommending party (if not the awardee) will not usually hear anything at this stage, since this step is between the Directorate and the proposed awardee.
5. The felicitation programme is the confirmation. The award becomes official only when the Department of Art and Culture holds the felicitation programme and presents the memento, citation and Rs 5,00,000 purse. Watch the Directorate's announcements and local newspapers, the same channel used to invite recommendations, for news of the ceremony.
6. If a cycle passes with no response, call the Directorate's main line, 0832-2404600, or email dir-dac.goa@nic.in, to ask whether the recommendation is still active for consideration or needs to be refiled for the next cycle, since the scheme does not guarantee an award every two years if the committee finds no suitable candidate.