New Delhi: The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind presented five Padma Bhushan and thirty-eight Padma Shri Awards today (April 2, 2018) at a Civil Investiture Ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Former India cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and multiple world-champion cueist Pankaj Advani received the country’s third highest civilian award, Padma Bhushan. Prominent recipients of the Padma Bhushan included Lakshman Pai for art, Pankaj Advani and Mahendra Singh Dhoni for Sports and Sharda Sinha for music.
Those who were part of the list of Padma Shri recepients included L Subadani Devi from Manipur.
Dr Gangadhar Vithobaji Pantawade from Maharashtra, Pandit Shyam Lal Chaturvedi from Chattisgarh, Praful Govind Baruah from Assam, Sittova Dudappa Jodatti from Karnataka, Sudhanshu Biswas from West Bengal, Dr Vikram Chandra Thakur from Uttarakhand and A Zakia from Mizoram.
Among the Padma award recipients, there were good number of those who can be counted among the country’s unsung heroes and heroins. They may not have made a name for themselves but some have selflessly worked to serve the poor.
Someone ran a free school while others helped the handicraft of tribals reach the world stage.
Another distinct feature of this years’ Padma awards list is that none of the names which were sent in by 8 state governments, 7 governors and 14 union ministers made it to the final list.
Instead of picking the recommended names, the government prioritised including those who gave their all for the betterment of the society but people know very little about the good that they’ve done.
A total of 35,595 recommendations had been made. But none of them made it to the list of the 85 recipients.
Among those present at Rashtrapati Bhawan for the award ceremony included Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several of his miniterial colleagues.
The names of recipients are announced every year on the eve of Republic Day.43 of this year’s recipients were conferred with their honors earlier on the 20th of March.
Among the dignitaries present on the occasion were the Vice President of India, Prime Minister, Speaker Lok Sabha and Union Ministers.
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