The Press Information Bureau (PIB) on Wednesday announced that the 66th National Film Awards will be declared after the 2019 general elections. The statement was issued on their website. The Press Information Bureau (PIB) is the publicity arm of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
The exact date for this year’s National Film Awards have not been announced yet.
The winners are decided by an independent jury consisting of eminent filmmakers and film personalities and are normally declared in April every year. However this year, they have been pushed back as "elections to the 17th Lok Sabha and the Legislative Assemblies of four states are underway and the awards also include one for the most film friendly state".
“Since the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is in force, which facilitates level playing field to all political parties and the candidates and inter alia seeks to ensure that the power of media is not used in such a manner which affects the general conduct and level playing field during the election process, it has been decided to declare the awards after the election process is over and the MCC concludes,” the statement on their website read.
The seven-phase Lok Sabha elections, which began earlier this month, will conclude on 19 May and the results will be announced on May 23.
The National Film Awards ceremony honours the best of Indian cinema through an event in New Delhi on 3 May every year.
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