New Delhi, Jan 25 (UNI) On the eve of 77th Republic Day, the President of India has approved the conferment of Padma Awards to 131 distinguished citizens for their contributions in different fields. Among the 131 names, five are for Padma Vibhushan, thirteen Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri Awards.
Veteran Bollywood actor Dharmendra Singh Deol, who passed away late last year at the age of 89, will be conferred Padma Vibhushan (posthumous), for his works in the field of Art. Others who have been conferred the highest civilian award, include the former CPI(M) Chief Minister of Kerala, VS Achuthanandan (Posthumous), KT Thomas (Public Affairs-Kerala), P Narayanan (Literature and Education- Kerala), and N Rajam (Art – UP).
Other known figures in the Padma awardee list include, famous playback singer Alka Yagnik, (Padma Bhushan) for Art, former Uttarakhand CM and Rajya Sabha MP Bhagat Singh Koshyari for Public Affairs (Padma Bhushan), famous Malayalam Actor Mammootty, for Art (Padma Bhushan), advertising legend, Piyush Pandey (Padma Bhushan) (Posthumous), former Jharkhand CM Shibu Soren (Posthumous) for Public Affairs (Padma Bhushan), and former Chief Metropolitan Council Delhi, and Jana Sangh stalwart, V K Malhotra (Posthumous) for Public Affairs.
Nineteen awardees out of the 131 are women and the list also includes 6 persons from the category of Foreigners/ NRI/ PIO/ OCI. Sixteen are Posthumous awards.
Padma Awards, one of the highest civilian Awards in the country are conferred in three categories, including Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.
These honors are conferred across different disciplines, and achievements, activities that are in the domains of art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, and several others.
While ‘Padma Vibhushan’ is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service, ‘Padma Bhushan’ is for distinguished service of high order and ‘Padma Shri’ for distinguished service in any field.
Every year, these awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day, and are conferred by the President at ceremonial functions held at Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around the month of March, or April.
