Jayanta Mahapatra to return his Padma Shri award

New Delhi: Noted poet Jayanta Mahapatra on Sunday said that he would return his Padma Shri award to vent his ire over the growing moral asymmetry in the country.

“It is a personal decision. I have written a letter to the President and expressed my desire to return the Padma Shri which I got in 2009. I am returning the award against the growing moral asymmetry in the country,” he told ANI in a telephonic conversation.

Mahapatra, one of the most prominent contemporary poets of India, is known for his distinct poetic style.

Regarded as one of the founders of Indian English poetry, he has written as many as 27 books, including seven in Odia.

(ANI)