Ahead of the 68th Republic Day, the government of India on January 25 released the list of Padma awardees that includes Paralympic Gold medalist Mariyappan Thangavelu and Gymnast Dipa Karmakar, Virat Kohli, Shekar Naik (Captain of Indian Blind Cricket Team) and Sakshi Malik.
Veteran politician and NCP leader Sharad Pawar also among the awardees.
Below are the winners:
Padma Vibushan:
- Sharad Pawar (Politician)
- Murli Manohar Joshi (Politician)
- Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev (Yogi)
Padma Shri awardees:
- Virat Kohli (Cricketer)
- Sakshi Mallik (Wrestler)
- Shekar Naik (Captain of Indian Blind Cricket Team)
- Dipa Karmarkar(Gymnast)
- Kailash Kher (Singer)
- Dipa Malik (Paralympian)
- Sanjeev Kapoor (Chef)
Meanwhile, for the first time, around 10-12 ‘unsung heroes,’ who have done commendable work in various fields including ecology, sanitation, agriculture and similar fields are likely to figure in the awardees’ list. This has been done on the suggestion of the Prime Minister.
According to the reports, people were chosen from various professions and regions of the country from around 16,000 applications received. The list was than shunted down to 4,500 before the awardees were finalised.
Veteran actor Waheeda Rehman and badminton player P Gopichand were among the part of the jury that selected the winners.
Padma Awards, one of the highest civilian Awards of the country, are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.
More details awaited.
