New Delhi : More than 60 National Film Awards recipients on Thursday said they will skip the ceremony this evening because President Ram Nath Kovind will be presenting only 11 awards, a departure from established tradition.

The artistes from across the country have written a letter addressed to the Directorate of Film Festival, Office of the President of India and the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to express their disappointment.

They said they were “disheartened” on being informed at the last minute that the President will present only 11 awards. The rest will receive it from Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani.

“It feels like a breach of trust when an institution/ceremony that abides by extreme protocol fails to inform us of such a vital aspect of the ceremony with a prior notice. It seems unfortunate that 65 years of tradition are being overturned in a jiffy,” the letter read.

The artistes said they discussed the matter with Irani last evening and were promised a reply.

“In the circumstances of not receiving a response for our grievance we are left with no option but to be absent for the ceremony. We do not intend to boycott the award but are not attending the ceremony to convey our discontent and are awaiting a more just solution,” they said in the letter.

Meanwhile, the Rashtrapati Bhavan said today that the President attends all award functions for a maximum of one hour and this was conveyed to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.

“President attends all award functions and convocations for a maximum of one hour. This has been the protocol since he took office. It was conveyed to Information and Broadcasting Ministry several weeks ago and the ministry knew this all along. Rashtrapati Bhavan is surprised by the 11th-hour questions that have been raised,” said Ashok Malik, Press Secretary to the President.