Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in a Press statement has informed that the 66th National Film Awards will be declared after the Lok Sabha elections are over.
The selections for National Film Awards are made by an independent and impartial jury consisting of eminent film makers and film personalities and declared in the month of April every year. However, this year 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.