Kannada superstar Puneeth Rajkumar died after suffering a heart attack around 1 pm on October 29. The actor donated his eyes like his late father and a legendary Kannada star Dr Rajkumar. He was laid to rest with honours at the Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday, October 31.

His demise took the entire Indian film fraternity and his legion of followers in shock. Many of his fans came forward to donate their eyes to the needy following the footsteps of their idol. Now, the Karnataka government has decided to honour the late actor Puneeth Rajkumar posthumously with the Karnataka Ratna Award.

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai made this announcement on Tuesday while speaking at the "Puneetha Namana," an event to pay homage to late Puneeth Rajkumar, organised by the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC), in association with Sandalwood film actors' and technicians' associations. Late power star Puneeth is the 10th one in Karnataka to receive the state's highest award.

The chief minister said, "After discussion with several people, I have decided to confer Karnataka Ratna award posthumously to Puneeth Rajkumar. I'm making this announcement today." Bommai added, "There are a lot of other suggestions, regarding honouring him with national level awards, our government is open minded on this, and in the upcoming cabinet those decisions will be taken."

Interestingly, Puneeth's late father Rajkumar was among the first recipients of the Karnataka Ratna award in 1992, along with poet Kuvempu when S Bangarappa was chief minister. "Why not Bharat Rathna for Puneeth Rajakumar?" stated Tamil star Sarath Kumar and Manchu Mohan Babu mentioned, "We should write letters from all cinema industry for Padma Shri to Puneeth Rajakumar."
 

ಕನ್ನಡನಾಡಿನ ಜನಪ್ರಿಯ ಕಲಾವಿದ ದಿವಂಗತ ಶ್ರೀ ಪುನೀತ್ ರಾಜಕುಮಾರ್ ಅವರಿಗೆ ಮರಣೋತ್ತರ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ರತ್ನ ಪ್ರಶಸ್ತಿ ನೀಡಿ ಗೌರವಿಸಲು ರಾಜ್ಯ ಸರ್ಕಾರ ತೀರ್ಮಾನಿಸಿದೆ.

State Government has decided to honour late Sri #PuneethRajukumar with Karnataka Ratna award posthumously.#KarnatakaRatna

— Basavaraj S Bommai (@BSBommai) November 16, 2021