Padma Awards: Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan & Padma Shri

Padma Awards – one of the highest civilian Awards of the country, are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The Awards are given in various disciplines / fields of activities, viz.- art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc. ‘Padma Vibhushan’ is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service; ‘Padma Bhushan’ for distinguished service of high order and ‘Padma Shri’ for distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year.

History:

Padma Awards were instituted in the year 1954. Except for brief interruptions during the years 1977 to 1980 and 1993 to 1997, these awards have been announced every year on Republic Day. The award is given in three categories, viz. Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri, in the decreasing order of importance.

• Padma Vibhushan for “exceptional and distinguished service”. Padma Vibhushan is the second-highest civilian award in India.
• Padma Bhushan for “distinguished service of a high order”. Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in India.
• Padma Shri is awarded for “distinguished service”. Padma Shri is the fourth-highest civilian award in India.

Unlike national honors, the Padma awards do not include cash allowances, benefits, or special concessions in rail / air travel. Per a December 1995 judgment of the Supreme Court of India, no titles or honorifics are associated with the Bharat Ratna or any of the Padma awards; honorees cannot use them or their initials as suffixes, prefixes or pre- and post-nominals attached to the awardee’s name. This includes any such use on letterheads, invitation cards, posters, books etc. In the case of any misuse, the awardee will forfeit the award, and he or she is cautioned against any such misuse upon receiving the honour.

• The decoration comprises a sanad (Certificate) issued under the hand and seal of the President and a Medallion.
• The recipients are also given a replica of the medallion, which they can wear during any ceremonial / State functions etc., if they desire.
• A commemorative brochure giving out brief details in respect of each award winner is also released on the day of the investiture ceremony.

Selection Process:

These awards seek to recognize work of any distinction… and is given for distinguished and exceptional achievements / service in all fields of activities / disciplines, such as art, literature and education, sports, medicine, social work, science and engineering, public affairs, civil service, trade and industry, etc. All persons without distinction of race, occupation, position or sex are eligible for these awards.

In 2015, the BJP government decided to end the practice of ministers recommending names for Padma awards and replaced it with any Indian citizen recommending a person for Padma awards online. The government said that this was done with the belief that every citizen has something to contribute to the nation and that contribution should be integrated with the country’s growth. Accordingly, several hitherto unknown citizens were awarded Padma awards in 2017. The role of the state governments was also minimized.

Padma Awards 2020

These awards are conferred by the President of India at ceremonial functions which are held at Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March / April every year. This year the President has approved conferment of 141 Padma Awards including 4 duo cases (in a duo case, the Award is counted as one) as per list below. The list comprises 7 Padma Vibhushan, 16 Padma Bhushan and 118 Padma Shri Awards. 33 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 18 persons from the category of Foreigners / NRI / PIO / OCI and 12 Posthumous awardees.

Padma Vibhushan (7)

Padma Bhushan (18)

1. M. Mumtaz Ali (Sri M) Others – Spiritualism Kerala
2. Syed Muazzem Ali (Posthumous) Public Affairs Bangladesh
3. Muzaffar Hussain Baig Public Affairs Jammu and Kashmir
4. Ajoy Chakravorty Art West Bengal
5. Manoj Das Literature and Education Puducherry
6. Balkrishna Doshi Others – Architecture Gujarat
7. Krishnammal Jagannathan Social Work Tamil Nadu
8. S. C. Jamir Public Affairs Nagaland
9. Anil Prakash Joshi Social Work Uttarakhand
10. Dr. Tsering Landol Medicine Ladakh
11. Anand Mahindra Trade and Industry Maharashtra
12. Neelakanta Ramakrishna Madhava Menon (Posthumous) Public Affairs Kerala
13. Manohar Gopalkrishna Prabhu Parrikar (Posthumous) Public Affairs Goa
14. Prof. Jagdish Sheth Literature and Education USA
15. P. V. Sindhu Sports Telangana
16. Venu Srinivasan Trade and Industry Tamil Nadu

Padma Shri (118)

1. Guru Shashadhar Acharya Art Jharkhand
2. Dr. Yogi Aeron Medicine Uttarakhand
3. Jai Prakash Agarwal Trade and Industry Delhi
4. Jagdish Lal Ahuja Social Work Punjab
5. Kazi Masum Akhtar Literature and Education West Bengal
6. Gloria Arieira Literature and Education Brazil
7. Khan Zaheerkhan Bakhtiyarkhan Sports Maharashtra
8. Dr. Padmavathy Bandopadhyay Medicine Uttar Pradesh
9. Dr. Sushovan Banerjee Medicine West Bengal
10. Dr. Digambar Behera Medicine Chandigarh
11. Dr. Damayanti Beshra Literature and Education Odisha
12. Pawar Popatrao Bhaguji Social Work Maharashtra
13. Himmata Ram Bhambhu Social Work Rajasthan
14. Sanjeev Bikhchandani Trade and Industry Uttar Pradesh
15. Gafurbhai M. Bilakhia Trade and Industry Gujarat
16. Bob Blackman Public Affairs United Kingdom
17. Indira P. P. Bora Art Assam
18. Madan Singh Chauhan Art Chhattisgarh
19. Usha Chaumar Social Work Rajasthan
20. Lil Bahadur Chettri Literature and Education Assam
21. Lalitha & Ms. Saroja Chidambaram (Duo)* Art Tamil Nadu
22. Dr. Vajira Chitrasena Art Sri Lanka
23. Dr. Purushottam Dadheech Art Madhya Pradesh
24. Utsav Charan Das Art Odisha
25. Prof. Indra Dassanayake (Posthumous) Literature and Education Sri Lanka
26. H. M. Desai Literature and Education Gujarat
27. Manohar Devadoss Art Tamil Nadu
28. Oinam Bembem Devi Sports Manipur
29. Lia Diskin Social Work Brazil
30. M. P. Ganesh Sports Karnataka
31. Dr. Bangalore Gangadhar Medicine Karnataka
32. Dr. Raman Gangakhedkar Science and Engineering Maharashtra
33. Barry Gardiner Public Affairs United Kingdom
34. Chewang Motup Goba Trade and Industry Ladakh
35. Bharat Goenka Trade and Industry Karnataka
36. Yadla Gopalarao Art Andhra Pradesh
37. Mitrabhanu Gountia Art Odisha
38. Tulasi Gowda Social Work Karnataka
39. Sujoy K. Guha Science and Engineering Bihar
40. Harekala Hajabba Social Work Karnataka
41. Enamul Haque Others-Archaeology Bangladesh
42. Madhu Mansuri Hasmukh Art Jharkhand
43. Abdul Jabbar (Posthumous) Social Work Madhya Pradesh
44. Bimal Kumar Jain Social Work Bihar
45. Meenakshi Jain Literature and Education Delhi
46. Nemnath Jain Trade and Industry Madhya Pradesh
47. Shanti Jain Art Bihar
48. Sudhir Jain Science and Engineering Gujarat
49. Benichandra Jamatia Literature and Education Tripura
50. K. V. Sampath Kumar & Ms. Vidushi Jayalakshmi K.S. (Duo)* Literature and Education-Journalism Karnataka
51. Karan Johar Art Maharashtra
52. Dr. Leela Joshi Medicine Madhya Pradesh
53. Sarita Joshi Art Maharashtra
54. C. Kamlova Literature and Education Mizoram
55. Dr. Ravi Kannan R. Medicine Assam
56. Ekta Kapoor Art Maharashtra
57. Yazdi Naoshirwan Karanjia Art Gujarat
58. Narayan J. Joshi Karayal Literature and Education Gujarat
59. Dr. Narindar Nath Khanna Medicine Uttar Pradesh
60. Naveen Khanna Science and Engineering Delhi
61. S. P. Kothari Literature and Education USA
62. V. K. Munusamy Krishnapakthar Art Puducherry
63. M. K. Kunjol Social Work Kerala
64. Manmohan Mahapatra (Posthumous) Art Odisha
65. Ustad Anwar Khan Mangniyar Art Rajasthan
66. Kattungal Subramaniam Manilal Science and Engineering Kerala
67. Munna Master Art Rajasthan
68. Prof. Abhiraj Rajendra Mishra Literature and Education Himachal Pradesh
69. Binapani Mohanty Literature and Education Odisha
70. Dr. Arunoday Mondal Medicine West Bengal
71. Dr. Prithwindra Mukherjee Literature and Education France
72. Sathyanarayan Mundayoor Social Work Arunachal Pradesh
73. Manilal Nag Art West Bengal
74. N. Chandrasekharan Nair Literature and Education Kerala
75. Dr. Tetsu Nakamura (Posthumous) Social Work Afghanistan
76. Shiv Datt Nirmohi Literature and Education Jammu and Kashmir
77. Pu Lalbiakthanga Pachuau Literature and Education-Journalism Mizoram
78. Moozhikkal Pankajakshi Art Kerala
79. Dr. Prasanta Kumar Pattanaik Literature and Education USA
80. Jogendra Nath Phukan Literature and Education Assam
81. Rahibai Soma Popere Others-Agriculture Maharashtra
82. Yogesh Praveen Literature and Education Uttar Pradesh
83. Jitu Rai Sports Uttar Pradesh
84. Tarundeep Rai Sports Sikkim
85. S. Ramakrishnan Social Work Tamil Nadu
86. Rani Rampal Sports Haryana
87. Kangana Ranaut Art Maharashtra
88. Dalavai Chalapathi Rao Art Andhra Pradesh
89. Shahbuddin Rathod Literature and Education Gujarat
90. Kalyan Singh Rawat Social Work Uttarakhand
91. Chintala Venkat Reddy Others-Agriculture Telangana
92. Dr. Shanti Roy Medicine Bihar
93. Radhammohan & Ms. Sabarmatee (Duo)* Others-Agriculture Odisha
94. Batakrushna Sahoo Others-Animal Husbandry Odisha
95. Trinity Saioo Others-Agriculture Meghalaya
96. Adnan Sami Art Maharashtra
97. Vijay Sankeshwar Trade and Industry Karnataka
98. Dr. Kushal Konwar Sarma Medicine Assam
99. Sayed Mehboob Shah Qadri alias Sayedbhai Social Work Maharashtra
100. Mohammed Sharif Social Work Uttar Pradesh
101. Shyam Sunder Sharma Art Bihar
102. Dr. Gurdip Singh Medicine Gujarat
103. Ramjee Singh Social Work Bihar
104. Vashishtha Narayan Singh (Posthumous) Science and Engineering Bihar
105. Daya Prakash Sinha Art Uttar Pradesh
106. Dr. Sandra Desa Souza Medicine Maharashtra
107. Vijayasarathi Sribhashyam Literature and Education Telangana
108. Kalee Shabi Mahaboob & Shri Sheik Mahaboob Subani (Duo)* Art Tamil Nadu
109. Javed Ahmad Tak Social Work Jammu and Kashmir
110. Pradeep Thalappil Science and Engineering Tamil Nadu
111. Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi Literature and Education Arunachal Pradesh
112. Robert Thurman Literature and Education USA
113. Agus Indra Udayana Social Work Indonesia
114. Harish Chandra Verma Science and Engineering Uttar Pradesh
115. Sundaram Verma Social Work Rajasthan
116. Dr. Romesh Tekchand Wadhwani Trade and Industry USA
117. Suresh Wadkar Art Maharashtra
118. Prem Watsa Trade and Industry Canada

Note: * In duo case, the award is counted as one.