PADMA AWARDS - AWARDS
News: Posthumous
Padma Vibhushan for Mulayam Singh Yadav, ORS pioneer Dilip Mahalanabis
What's in the news?
● Samajwadi
Party patriarch Mulayam Singh, on the opposite side of the ideological spectrum
to the BJP, architect Balkrishna Doshi and Dilip Mahalanabis, a doctor from
West Bengal, will be honoured with the Padma Vibhushan posthumously, the
country’s second highest civilian award announced on the eve of Republic Day.
Key takeaways:
● The
President of India has approved 106
Padma awards. The list comprises six Padma Vibhushan, nine Padma Bhushan
and 91 Padma Shri awards.
● Nineteen
of the awardees are women and the list includes seven honoured posthumously.
Padma Awards:
● Padma
Awards are one of the highest civilian
honours of India announced annually on the eve of Republic Day.
● The
award seeks to recognize achievements in all fields of activities or
disciplines where an element of public service is involved.
History:
● The
Government of India instituted two civilian awards, the Bharat Ratna and Padma
Vibhushan in 1954.
● The
Padma Vibhushan had three classes namely Pahela Varg, Dusra Varg, and Tisra
Varg. These were later renamed Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri
through a Presidential Notification issued on January 8, 1955.
Categories:
The
Awards are given in three categories such as
Jury:
● The
Padma Awards are conferred on the recommendations made by the Padma Awards
Committee, which is constituted by the
Prime Minister every year.
● The
Padma Awards Committee is headed by the
Cabinet Secretary and includes Home Secretary, Secretary to the President,
and four to six eminent persons as members.
● The nomination process is
open to the public. Even self-nomination can be made.
Eligible Persons:
● All
persons without distinction of race, occupation, position or sex are eligible
for these awards. However, government
servants including those working with PSUs, except doctors and scientists, are
not eligible for these awards.
● The
total number of awards to be given in a year (excluding posthumous awards and
to NRI/foreigners/OCIs) should not be
more than 120.
Other Features:
● A
higher category of Padma award can be conferred on a person only where at least five years have elapsed since
the conferment of the earlier Padma award. However, in highly deserving cases,
a relaxation can be made by the Awards Committee.
● The
award does not amount to a title and
cannot be used as a suffix or prefix to the awardees’ name.
List of awardees:
Padma Vibhushan:
● Samajwadi
Party patriarch Mulayam Singh.
● Architect
Balkrishna Doshi
● Dilip Mahalanabis,
a doctor from West Bengal. (Mahalanabis, who promoted the worldwide use of Oral
Rehydration Solution saving over 5 crore lives globally, was among the 26
unsung heroes named for the coveted awards).
● The
90-year-old Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna, who has served in various positions
including that of External Affairs Minister, Maharashtra Governor and Chief
Minister of Karnataka, is credited with building Brand Bengaluru.
● Shri
Zakir Hussain
● Shri
Srinivas Varadhan
Padma Bhushan:
● Industrialist
Kumar Mangalam Birla
● Sudha
Murty, chairperson of the Infosys Foundation.
● Mr.
Bhyrappa, one of the most celebrated and prolific novelists in Kannada, has
been translated into nearly every Indian language, besides English.
● Shri
Deepak Dhar
● Ms.
Vani Jairam
● Swami
Chinna Jeeyar
● Ms.
Suman Kalyanpur
● Shri
Kapil Kapoor
● Shri
Kamlesh D Patel
Padma Shri:
● Ramkuiwangbe Newme (75),
a Naga social worker from Dima Hasao in
Assam, who dedicated his life for the conservation and preservation of Heraka
religion.
● Composer
M.M. Keeravani, who recently won the Golden Globe.
● Ratan Chandra Kar (66), a
retired government doctor from the Andaman and Nicobar
Islands who has worked with the Jarawa tribes. (Mr. Kar treated the Jarawas
during the measles epidemic of 1999 and brought them back from the verge of
extinction, contributing to their increase in population from 76 to 270).
● Siddi tribal social
worker from Gujarat Hirabai Lobi and war veteran
Munishwar Chander Dawar who has been treating underprivileged people in Madhya
Pradesh.
● ‘Kannur ke Gandhi’ V.P.
Appukuttan Poduval, a 99-year old freedom
fighter who participated in the Quit India movement.
● Snake catchers Vadivel
Gopal and Masi Sadaiyan of the Irula Tribe
in Tamil Nadu. (Collectively, Irula tribe plays an important role in the
healthcare ecosystem in India, through antivenoms collected)
● 98-year old organic
farmer Tula Ram Upreti from Sikkim.