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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.
Padma Awards: 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 2026
Awards are conferred by the President of India at ceremonial functions which are held at Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March / April every year. For the year 2026, the President has approved conferment of 131 Padma Awards including 2 duo cases (in a duo case, the Award is counted as one) as per list below. The list comprises 5 Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri Awards. 19 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 6 persons from the category of Foreigners / NRI / PIO / OCI and 16 Posthumous awardees.
- Total Padma Awards 2026: 131
- Padma Vibhushan: 5
- Padma Bhushan: 13
- Padma Shri: 113
The full list is given below:
Padma Vibhushan (7)
| S.No. | Name | Field | State / Country |
| 01. | Shri Dharmendra Singh Deol (Posthumous) | Art | Maharashtra |
| 02. | Shri K T Thomas | Public Affairs | Kerala |
| 03. | Ms. N. Rajam | Art | Uttar Pradesh |
| 04. | Shri P. Narayanan | Literature & Education | Kerala |
| 05. | Shri V. S. Achuthanandhan (Posthumous) | Public Affairs | Kerala |
Padma Bhushan (13)
| S.No. | Name | Field | State / Country |
| 01. | Ms. Alka Yagnik | Art | Maharashtra |
| 02. | Shri Bhagat Singh Koshyari | Public Affairs | Uttarakhand |
| 03. | Shri K. R. Palaniswamy | Medicine | Tamil Nadu |
| 04. | Shri Mammootty | Art | Kerala |
| 05. | Dr. Nori Dattatreyudu | Medicine | USA |
| 06. | Shri Piyush Pandey (Posthumous) | Art | Maharashtra |
| 07. | Shri S. K. M. Maeilanandhan | Social Work | Tamil Nadu |
| 08. | Shri Shatavadhani R. Ganesh | Art | Karnataka |
| 09. | Shri Shibu Soren (Posthumous) | Public Affairs | Jharkhand |
| 10. | Shri Uday Kotak | Trade & Industry | Maharashtra |
| 11. | Shri V. K. Malhotra (Posthumous) | Public Affairs | Delhi |
| 12. | Shri Vellappally Natesan | Public Affairs | Kerala |
| 13. | Shri Vijay Amritraj | Sports | USA |
Padma Shri (113)
| SN | Name | Field | State / Country |
| 1 | Shri A E Muthunayagam | Science and Engineering | Kerala |
| 2 | Shri Anil Kumar Rastogi | Art | Uttar Pradesh |
| 3 | Shri Anke Gowda M. | Social Work | Karnataka |
| 4 | Ms. Armida Fernandez | Medicine | Maharashtra |
| 5 | Shri Arvind Vaidya | Art | Gujarat |
| 6 | Shri Ashok Khade | Trade and Industry | Maharashtra |
| 7 | Shri Ashok Kumar Singh | Science and Engineering | Uttar Pradesh |
| 8 | Shri Asok Kumar Haldar | Literature and Education | West Bengal |
| 9 | Shri Baldev Singh | Sports | Punjab |
| 10 | Shri Bhagwandas Raikwar | Sports | Madhya Pradesh |
| 11 | Shri Bharat Singh Bharti | Art | Bihar |
| 12 | Shri Bhiklya Ladakya Dhinda | Art | Maharashtra |
| 13 | Shri Bishwa Bandhu (Posthumous) | Art | Bihar |
| 14 | Shri Brij Lal Bhat | Social Work | Jammu and Kashmir |
| 15 | Shri Buddha Rashmi Mani | Others – Archaeology | Uttar Pradesh |
| 16 | Dr. Budhri Tati | Social Work | Chhattisgarh |
| 17 | Shri Chandramouli Gaddamanugu | Science and Engineering | Telangana |
| 18 | Shri Charan Hembram | Literature and Education | Odisha |
| 19 | Shri Chiranji Lal Yadav | Art | Uttar Pradesh |
| 20 | Ms. Deepika Reddy | Art | Telangana |
| 21 | Shri Dharmiklal Chunilal Pandya | Art | Gujarat |
| 22 | Shri Gadde Babu Rajendra Prasad | Art | Andhra Pradesh |
| 23 | Shri Gafruddin Mewati Jogi | Art | Rajasthan |
| 24 | Shri Gambir Singh Yonzone | Literature and Education | West Bengal |
| 25 | Shri Garimella Balakrishna Prasad (Posthumous) | Art | Andhra Pradesh |
| 26 | Ms. Gayatri Balasubramanian & Ms. Ranjani Balasubramanian (Duo) | Art | Tamil Nadu |
| 27 | Shri Gopal Ji Trivedi | Science and Engineering | Bihar |
| 28 | Shri Guduru Venkat Rao | Medicine | Telangana |
| 29 | Shri H V Hande | Medicine | Tamil Nadu |
| 30 | Shri Hally War | Social Work | Meghalaya |
| 31 | Shri Hari Madhab Mukhopadhyay (Posthumous) | Art | West Bengal |
| 32 | Shri Haricharan Saikia | Art | Assam |
| 33 | Ms. Harmanpreet Kaur Bhullar | Sports | Punjab |
| 34 | Shri Inderjit Singh Sidhu | Social Work | Chandigarh |
| 35 | Shri Janardan Bapurao Bothe | Social Work | Maharashtra |
| 36 | Shri Jogesh Deuri | Others – Agriculture | Assam |
| 37 | Shri Juzer Vasi | Science and Engineering | Maharashtra |
| 38 | Shri Jyotish Debnath | Art | West Bengal |
| 39 | Shri K Pajanivel | Sports | Puducherry |
| 40 | Shri K Ramasamy | Science and Engineering | Tamil Nadu |
| 41 | Shri K Vijay Kumar | Civil Service | Tamil Nadu |
| 42 | Shri Kabindra Purkayastha (Posthumous) | Public Affairs | Assam |
| 43 | Shri Kailash Chandra Pant | Literature and Education | Madhya Pradesh |
| 44 | Ms. Kalamandalam Vimala Menon | Art | Kerala |
| 45 | Shri Kewal Krishan Thakral | Medicine | Uttar Pradesh |
| 46 | Shri Khem Raj Sundriyal | Art | Haryana |
| 47 | Ms. Kollakal Devaki Amma G | Social Work | Kerala |
| 48 | Shri Krishnamurty Balasubramanian | Science and Engineering | Telangana |
| 49 | Shri Kumar Bose | Art | West Bengal |
| 50 | Shri Kumarasamy Thangaraj | Science and Engineering | Telangana |
| 51 | Prof. (Dr.) Lars-Christian Koch | Art | Germany |
| 52 | Ms. Liudmila Viktorovna Khokhlova | Literature and Education | Russia |
| 53 | Shri Madhavan Ranganathan | Art | Maharashtra |
| 54 | Shri Maganti Murali Mohan | Art | Andhra Pradesh |
| 55 | Shri Mahendra Kumar Mishra | Literature and Education | Odisha |
| 56 | Shri Mahendra Nath Roy | Literature and Education | West Bengal |
| 57 | Shri Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar | Literature and Education | Delhi |
| 58 | Ms. Mangala Kapoor | Literature and Education | Uttar Pradesh |
| 59 | Shri Mir Hajibhai Kasambhai | Art | Gujarat |
| 60 | Shri Mohan Nagar | Social Work | Madhya Pradesh |
| 61 | Shri Narayan Vyas | Others – Archaeology | Madhya Pradesh |
| 62 | Shri Naresh Chandra Dev Varma | Literature and Education | Tripura |
| 63 | Shri Nilesh Vinodchandra Mandlewala | Social Work | Gujarat |
| 64 | Shri Nuruddin Ahmed | Art | Assam |
| 65 | Shri Othuvaar Thiruthani Swaminathan | Art | Tamil Nadu |
| 66 | Dr. Padma Gurmet | Medicine | Ladakh |
| 67 | Shri Palkonda Vijay Anand Reddy | Medicine | Telangana |
| 68 | Ms. Pokhila Lekthepi | Art | Assam |
| 69 | Dr. Prabhakar Basavprabhu Kore | Literature and Education | Karnataka |
| 70 | Shri Prateek Sharma | Medicine | United States of America |
| 71 | Shri Praveen Kumar | Sports | Uttar Pradesh |
| 72 | Shri Prem Lal Gautam | Science and Engineering | Himachal Pradesh |
| 73 | Shri Prosenjit Chatterjee | Art | West Bengal |
| 74 | Dr. Punniamurthy Natesan | Medicine | Tamil Nadu |
| 75 | Shri R Krishnan (Posthumous) | Art | Tamil Nadu |
| 76 | Shri R V S Mani | Civil Service | Delhi |
| 77 | Shri Rabilal Tudu | Literature and Education | West Bengal |
| 78 | Shri Raghupat Singh (Posthumous) | Others – Agriculture | Uttar Pradesh |
| 79 | Shri Raghuveer Tukaram Khedkar | Art | Maharashtra |
| 80 | Shri Rajastapathi Kaliappa Goundar | Art | Tamil Nadu |
| 81 | Shri Rajendra Prasad | Medicine | Uttar Pradesh |
| 82 | Shri Rama Reddy Mamidi (Posthumous) | Others – Animal Husbandry | Telangana |
| 83 | Shri Ramamurthy Sreedher | Others – Radio Broadcasting | Delhi |
| 84 | Shri Ramchandra Godbole & Ms. Suneeta Godbole (Duo) | Medicine | Chhattisgarh |
| 85 | Shri Ratilal Borisagar | Literature and Education | Gujarat |
| 86 | Shri Rohit Sharma | Sports | Maharashtra |
| 87 | Ms. S G Susheelamma | Social Work | Karnataka |
| 88 | Shri Sangyusang S Pongener | Art | Nagaland |
| 89 | Sant Niranjan Dass | Others – Spiritualism | Punjab |
| 90 | Shri Sarat Kumar Patra | Art | Odisha |
| 91 | Shri Saroj Mandal | Medicine | West Bengal |
| 92 | Shri Satish Shah (Posthumous) | Art | Maharashtra |
| 93 | Shri Satyanarayan Nuwal | Trade and Industry | Maharashtra |
| 94 | Ms. Savita Punia | Sports | Haryana |
| 95 | Prof. Shafi Shauq | Literature and Education | Jammu and Kashmir |
| 96 | Shri Shashi Shekhar Vempati | Literature and Education | Karnataka |
| 97 | Shri Shrirang Devaba Lad | Others – Agriculture | Maharashtra |
| 98 | Ms. Shubha Venkatesha Iyengar | Science and Engineering | Karnataka |
| 99 | Shri Shyam Sundar | Medicine | Uttar Pradesh |
| 100 | Shri Simanchal Patro | Art | Odisha |
| 101 | Ms. Sivasankari | Literature and Education | Tamil Nadu |
| 102 | Dr. Suresh Hanagavadi | Medicine | Karnataka |
| 103 | Swami Brahmdev Ji Maharaj | Social Work | Rajasthan |
| 104 | Shri T T Jagannathan (Posthumous) | Trade and Industry | Karnataka |
| 105 | Shri Taga Ram Bheel | Art | Rajasthan |
| 106 | Shri Tarun Bhattacharya | Art | West Bengal |
| 107 | Shri Techi Gubin | Social Work | Arunachal Pradesh |
| 108 | Shri Thiruvaarur Bakthavathsalam | Art | Tamil Nadu |
| 109 | Ms. Tripti Mukherjee | Art | West Bengal |
| 110 | Shri Veezhinathan Kamakoti | Science and Engineering | Tamil Nadu |
| 111 | Shri Vempaty Kutumba Sastry | Literature and Education | Andhra Pradesh |
| 112 | Shri Vladimer Mestvirishvili (Posthumous) | Sports | Georgia |
| 113 | Shri Yumnam Jatra Singh (Posthumous) | Art | Manipur |
