Javed Akhtar nominated to RS

Javed Akhtar was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the President.

Spicezee Bureau

New Delhi: Noted lyricist Javed Akhtar was on Friday nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the President. The President can nominate 12 persons who have excelled in various fields to the Upper House. The four others nominated are Ram Dayal Munda, Bhalchandra Mungekar and B Jayashree and former Union Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar according to an official statement. The nomination has been made against the vacancies caused by the retirement of nominated members, the release added. "This nomination has honoured me, but it is also a responsibility, which shows the trust shown to me by the President of India," Akhtar told PTI. "I come from the film industry and have spend the most of my life there, so I will definitely focus on the problems of the industry and those faced by the Mumbai city," he added. The 65-year-old writer, who is also an eminent poet, assured to bring the attention of the House to many other issues which are of concern to the common man. "There are many things that need a little more attention than that they generally get. I want to work on issues like health and education," Akhtar said. When asked how would he manage the cacophony of the Parliament, Akhtar quipped by saying that the House also has many good debates. "Cacophony is not a problem as the world is also full of cacophony. But we tend to forget that they also do lot of good debates also," he said while promising to attend as many Rajya Sabha sessions as possible. Akhtar was awarded the 'Padma Shri' in 1999 and the 'Padma Bhushan' in 2007, besides winning the the National Award five times.