Kathmandu, Sept. 22 -- On the occasion of Constitution Day, the government on Friday announced various awards for 634 individuals from different walks of life for "their significant contributions to the nation".

But announcements quickly ran into controversy, with many saying most of the awardees were close to the ruling party and that such awards are nothing but a continuation of what used to happen during the Panchayat era when the kings awarded their sycophants.

"It's not that all those who were awarded did not deserve the awards, but most of them did not," said Yubaraj Chaulagain, a central committee member of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP), who has been a vocal critic of what he calls "award culture".

The government has al...