K-P honouraria for artistes challenged

Artistes claim deserving candidates were ignored, only blue-eyed people selected

PESHAWAR: Around 40 television and stage artistes along with singers and producers have challenged a monthly honorarium provided to 500 artistes, poets and writers of the province, alleging the list of names for the award was not prepared transparently.

Filed by Bibi Saeeda and 39 others before the Peshawar High Court (PHC) the petition alleges that the honoraria, called ‘Sahafat k Zinda Ameen’, are only being provided to the blue-eyed artistes of the Cultural Directorate and members of the committee which had been constituted to draft the list.



Filing through Syed Akhtar Durrani, Saeeda claimed that they were competent and qualified for the award but were ignored.

The petitioners further contended that a committee was formed by the Culture Director to finalise the list of names who will receive the award. But the committee allegedly violated the terms and conditions listed in the advertisement.

“This was the reason that one of the members of the committee, Layeq Zada Layeq left it as the members were violating the rules,” claimed the petitioners.

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government had started paying Rs30,000 per month as a stipend to 500 talented artistes and singers of the province for a year.



“They’ve prepared a fake list of 500 artistes, known as Sahafat ke Zinda Ameen,” alleged the petitioners, adding, “The honoraria were given even to foreigners, mostly Afghan artistes, who were not entitled under the listed criteria.”

They have asked the court to direct the government to prepare a new list in which only the deserving artistes who have served the culture of the province in a real sense should be provided with the stipend.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 5^th, 2018.