What Are Padma Awards and Who Confers Them

Republic Day 2022: Many people will receive the prestigious Padma awards, including India's first Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat, veteran Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Hindutva poster boy, the late Kalyan Singh. On the eve of Republic Day, the Ministry of Home Affairs reveals the recipients of India's highest civilian award, as it does every year. Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri are the three different types of Padma awards. Art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medical, literature, education, sports, civil service, and other disciplines/fields of activity are among those recognised.

What are the Padma Awards, and what do they mean?

The Padma Vibhushan is given for exceptional and distinguished service, while the Padma Bhushan is given for distinguished service of a high order, and the Padma Shri is given for distinguished service in any field.

The Padma awards, along with India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, were established in 1954. Except for three years between 1978 and 1979 and 1993 to 1997, the Padma awards have been given every year since its inception.

The prizes were previously known as Pahela Varg, Dusra Varg, and Tisra Varg. A Presidential Notification in 1955 renamed it Padma Vibhushan (second highest), Padma Bhushan (third highest), and Padma Shri (fourth highest) over the years.

Who confers Padma awards?

The President of India bestows these honours during ceremonial festivities held at Rashtrapati Bhawan every year around March or April. The Padma Awards Committee, which is appointed by the Prime Minister each year, recommends the honorees. The Cabinet Secretary chairs the Padma Awards Committee, which also comprises the Home Secretary, the Secretary to the President, and four to six renowned individuals. The committee's recommendations are forwarded to India's Prime Minister and President for approval.

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What is included in the Padma awards?

A certificate signed by the President is presented to the awardees, along with a medallion. They are also given a copy of the same that they can wear to any state ceremony, and their names are published on a ceremonial day in the Gazette of India. The winners are entitled to specific benefits, such as travel on state-owned airlines for official events. The awards, however, do not come with a monetary incentive or a title.

How are nominations made?

Every year, between May 1 and September 15, state administrations, union territories, and central government ministries and departments seek proposals. Self-nominations and suggestions from private organisations are also permitted.

The major requirements, though, are "lifetime achievement," and the medal isn't just granted for long service in any sector, but also particular services.

In a 2018 notification, the government made it essential to file nominations online with an 800-word citation detailing the nominee's remarkable services.

Who is eligible to receive the awards?

The prizes are open to all Indian citizens, regardless of race, occupation, status, or gender. Government employees, including those who work for PSUs, are not eligible for these rewards, except for doctors and scientists.

The awards are granted to those who have made outstanding contributions to the fields of art, social work, civil service, athletics, and public affairs, among other things.

However, by eliminating posthumous honours and prizes to NRIs, foreigners, and overseas citizens, the total number of awards presented in a year is limited to 120 (OCI).

Who will receive the Padma awards in 2022?

The President has approved the presentation of 128 Padma Awards this year, including two pairs of cases. There are four Padma Vibhushans, 17 Padma Bhushan, and 107 Padma Shris on the list. Thirty-four of the recipients are women, and the list also includes ten foreigners, NRIs, and OCIs, as well as 13 posthumous awardees.

Padma Bhushan was also granted to Cyrus Poonawalla of the Serum Institute of India, who developed the COVID-19 vaccine Covishield, and Krishna Ella and Suchitra Ella of Bharat Biotech, who developed India's indigenous coronavirus vaccine Covaxin.

The Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award, was bestowed on Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Google CEO Sundar Pichai.

Padma Bhushan awards have been given to the late Punjabi folk singer Gurmeet Bawa, actor Victor Banerjee, and former Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi.

The Padma Shri was given to Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra and singer Sonu Nigam.

There are four Padma Vibhushan awards, seventeen Padma Bhushan awards, and 107 Padma Shri awards on the list. Thirty-four of the honorees are women, and there are also ten foreigners, NRI, PIO, and OCI on the list, as well as 13 posthumous awardees.

Here is the full list:

Padma Vibhushan (4)

1 Prabha Atre, Art

2 Radheyshyam Khemka (Posthumous), Literature and Education

3 General Bipin Rawat (Posthumous), Civil Service

4 Shri Kalyan Singh (Posthumous), Public Affairs

Padma Bhushan (17)

5 Ghulam Nabi Azad, Public Affairs

6 Victor Banerjee, Art

7 Gurmeet Bawa (Posthumous), Art

8 Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Public Affairs

9 Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Trade and Industry

10 Krishna Ella and Suchitra Ella (Duo), Trade and Industry

11 Madhur Jaffery, Culinary (USA)

12 Devendra Jhajharia, Sports

13 Rashid Khan, Art

14 Rajiv Mehrishi, Civil Service

15 Satya Narayana Nadella, Trade and Industry (USA)

16 Sundararajan Pichai, Trade and Industry (USA)

17 Cyrus Poonawalla, Trade and Industry

18 Sanjaya Rajaram (Posthumous), Science and Engineering (Mexico)

19 Pratibha Ray, Literature and Education

20 Swami Sachidanand, Literature and Education

21 Vashishth Tripathi, Literature and Education

Padma Shri (107)

22 Prahlad Rai Agarwala, Trade and Industry

23 Najma Akhtar, Literature and Education

24 Sumit Antil, Sports

25 T Senka Ao, Literature and Education

26 Kamalini Asthana and Nalini Asthana (Duo), Art

27 Subbanna Ayyappan, Science and Engineering

28 JK Bajaj, Literature and Education

29 Sirpi Balasubramaniam, Literature and Education

30 Srimad Baba Balia, Social Work

31 Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay, Science and Engineering

32 Madhuri Barthwal, Art

33 Akhone Asgar Ali Basharat, Literature and Education

34 Dr Himmatrao Bawaskar, Medicine

35 Harmohinder Singh Bedi, Literature and Education

36 Pramod Bhagat, Sports

37 S Ballesh Bhajantri, Art

38 Shri Khandu Wangchuk Bhutia, Art

39 Maria Christopher Byrski, Literature and Education (Poland)

40 Acharya Chandanaji Social, Work

41 Sulochana Chavan, Art

42 Neeraj Chopra, Sports

43 Shakuntala Choudhary, Social Work

44 Sankaranarayana Menon Chundayil, Sports

45 S Damodaran Social, Work

46 Faisal Ali Dar, Sports

47 Jagjit Singh Dardi, Trade and Industry

48 Dr Prokar Dasgupta, Medicine (UK)

49 Aditya Prasad Dash, Science and Engineering

50 Dr Lata Desai, Medicine

51 Malji Bhai Desai, Public Affairs

52 Basanti Devi, Social Work

53 Lourembam Bino Devi, Art

54 Muktamani Devi, Trade and Industry

55 Shyamamani Devi, Art

56 Khalil Dhantejvi (Posthumous), Literature and Education

57 Savaji Bhai Dholakia, Social Work

58 Arjun Singh Dhurve, Art

59 Dr Vijaykumar Vinayak Dongre, Medicine

60 Chandraprakash Dwivedi, Art

61 Dhaneswar Engti, Literature and Education

62 Om Prakash Gandhi, Social Work

63 Narasimha Rao Garikapati, Literature and Education

64 Girdhari Ram Ghonju (Posthumous), Literature and Education

65 Shaibal Gupta (Posthumous), Literature and Education

66 Narasingha Prasad Guru, Literature and Education

67 Gosaveedu Shaik Hassan (Posthumous), Art

68 Ryuko Hira, Trade and Industry (Japan)

69 Sosamma Iype, Animal Husbandry

70 Avadh Kishore Jadia, Literature and Education

71 Sowcar Janaki, Art

72 Tara Jauhar, Literature and Education

73 Vandana Kataria, Sports

74 HR Keshavamurthy, Art

75 Rutger Kortenhorst, Literature and Education (Ireland)

76 P Narayana Kurup, Literature and Education

77 Avani Lekhara, Sports

78 Moti Lal Madan, Science and Engineering

79 Shivnath Mishra, Art

80 Dr Narendra Prasad Misra (Posthumous), Medicine

81 Darshanam Mogilaiah, Art

82 Guruprasad Mohapatra (Posthumous), Civil Service

83 Thavil Kongampattu A Vmurugaiyan, Art

84 R Muthukannammal, Art

85 Abdul Khader Nadakattin, Grassroots Innovation

86 Amai Mahalinga Naik, Agriculture

87 Tsering Namgyal, Art

88 AKC Natarajan, Art

89 VL Nghaka, Literature and Education

90 Sonu Nigam, Art

91 Ram Sahay Panday, Art

92 Chirapat Prapandavidya, Literature and Education (Thailand)

93 KV Rabiya, Social Work

94 Anil Kumar Rajvanshi, Science and Engineering

95 Sheesh Ram, Art

96 Ramachandraiah, Art

97 Dr Sunkara Venkata Adinarayana Rao, Medicine

98 Gamit Ramilaben Raysingbhai, Social Work

99 Padmaja Reddy, Art

100 Guru Tulku Rinpoche, Spiritualism

101 Brahmanand Sankhwalkar, Sports

102 Vidyanand Sarek, Literature and Education

103 Kali Pada Saren, Literature and Education

104 Dr Veeraswamy Seshiah, Medicine

105 Prabhaben Shah, Social Work

106 Dilip Shahani, Literature and Education

107 Ram Dayal Sharma, Art

108 Vishwamurti Shastri, Literature and Education

109 Tatiana Lvovna Shaumyan, Literature and Education (Russia)

110 Siddhalingaiah (Posthumous), Literature and Education

111 Kaajee Singh, Art

112 Konsam Ibomcha Singh, Art

113 Prem Singh, Social Work

114 Seth Pal Singh, Agriculture

115 Vidya Vindu Singh, Literature and Education

116 Baba Iqbal Singh, Social Work

117 Dr Bhimsen Singhal, Medicine

118 Sivananda, Yoga

119 Ajay Kumar Sonkar, Science and Engineering

120 Ajita Srivastava, Art

121 Sadguru Brahmeshanand Acharya Swami, Spiritualism

122 Balaji Tambe (Posthumous), Medicine

123 Raghuvendra Tanwar, Literature and Education

124 Kamlakar Tripathi, Medicine

125 Lalita Vakil, Art

126 Durga Bai Vyam, Art

127 Jyantkumar Maganlal Vyas, Science and Engineering

128 Badaplin War, Literature and Education