Former chief minister and leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik on Monday urged the Centre to ensure that the prestigious Unesco Kalinga Prize, meant to popularise science at the international level, is never stopped.

Uncertainty haunts the Unesco (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) Kalinga Prize after the Centre reportedly refused to give its share for this award. It is the only international award from India in the science popularisation field. Naveen also reminded the Centre how former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had supported the prize and at his behest, the Centre had started paying money for the prestigious award.

The prize carries a cash award of $40,000, a certificate and Albert Einstein silver medal. It was created in 1952, following a donation of £1000 from Biju Patnaik, founder president of the Kalinga Foundation Trust, a charitable trust. The prize money and other expenses are shared equally between the Government of India, Kalinga Foundation Trust, and the Odisha government, at a ratio of 6:4:4.

In a letter to Union science and technology minister Jitendra Singh, Naveen said: “I am now pained to learn that the ministry of science and technology has decided to stop supporting for this prize. The Kalinga Prize is just not a symbol of Odia pride but it had set a legacy for Independent India in the committee of nations globally.”

Naveen urged the minister to imagine the kind of efforts Biju Babu would have put as a 36 year old young man travelling all the way to Paris and to negotiate with the Unesco to set up an international prize for popularisation science.