New Delhi: The Centre has announced the full list of recipients of Padma Awards, which are among the highest civilian honours in the country, on the eve of the 76th Republic Day. This year, President Droupadi Murmu has approved the conferment of 139 awards, including seven Padma Vibhushan, 19 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri Awards.
The awards are given every year for excellence in various disciplines, like art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports and civil service.
Among the Padma Vibhushan awardees this year are former Chief Justice of India Justice (Retd) Jagdish Singh Khehar, violinist Lakshminarayana Subramaniam and gastroenterologist Dr Duvvur Nageshwar Reddy.
Of the 139, 13 have been conferred the awards posthumously, which include Japanese industrialist Osamu Suzuki, economist Bibek Debroy, vocalist Pankaj Udhas, and Bharatiya Janata Party politician and former Bihar deputy chief minister, Sushil Modi, among others.
Actors Nandamuri Balakrishna, Ajith Kumar and Shobana Chandrakumar have been awarded the Padma Bhushan, besides filmmaker Shekhar Kapur.
Social activists, like Bhim Singh Bhavesh, Jumde Yomgam Gamlin, Libia Lobo Sardesai and others, have been conferred the Padma Shri.
Among other Padma Shri awardees are singers Arijit Singh and Jaspinder Narula, and music composer Ricky Kej. India’s former hockey goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh has been awarded the Padma Bhushan, while paralympic archer Harvinder Singh and cricketer R. Ashwin have been conferred with Padma Shri.
Among the total awardees on the list, 23 are women.
Here’s the full list of Padma awardees.