As India gears up to celebrate its 76th Republic Day on Sunday (January 26), the central government on Saturday (Jan 25) released the list of the distinguished Padma awardees.
Padma Awards - one of the highest civilian Awards in the country is conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri.
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The Awards are given in various disciplines or fields of activities, viz.- art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc.
Here's a look at the list of prominent awardees:
The Padma awards are conferred by the president at ceremonial functions which are held at Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March / April every year.
"For the year 2025, the President has approved the conferment of 139 Padma Awards. The list comprises 7 Padma Vibhushan, 19 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri Awards," the Indian home ministry said in a statement.
The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year.
Click on this link for the full list of Padma awardees
Padma Vibhushan
The Padma Vibhushan is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service. This year, the award is being given to seven people of which three are receiving posthumously.
The recipients are- Duvvur Nageshwar Reddy (Medicine), Justice (Retd) Jagdish Singh Khehar (Public Affairs), Kumudini Rajnikant Lakhia (Art), and Lakshminarayana Subramaniam (Art).
Those receiving the award posthumously are- M.T. Vasudevan Nair (Literature and Education), Osamu Suzuki (Trade and Industry), and Sharda Sinha (Art).
Padma Bhushan
The Padma Bhushan is awarded for distinguished service of high order.
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Some of the prominent people who would be getting the Padma Bhushan award are late senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi (Public Affairs- receiving the award posthumously), Pankaj Patel (Trade and Industry), Vinod Dham (Science and Engineering), P R Sreejesh (Sports), and Shekhar Kapur (Art).
Padma Shri
The Padma Shri is awarded for distinguished service in any field.
The list of Padma Shri awardees includes Dr Neerja Bhatla, a Gynaecologist from Delhi with a specialised focus on cervical cancer detection, prevention and management.
Bhim Singh Bhavesh, a social worker from Bihar's Bhojpur is also being awarded Padma Shri for tirelessly working for the upliftment of the Musahar community, one of society's most marginalised groups, for the past 22 years through his foundation 'Nayee Asha'.
P Datchanamoorthy is also being awarded Padma Shri. He is an instrumentalist specialising in Thavil, a classical percussion instrument vital to South Indian music and culture, with more than 5 decades of experience.
PM Modi congratulates awardees
In a post on X, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated all the Padma awardees.
Congratulations to all the Padma awardees! India is proud to honour and celebrate their extraordinary achievements. Their dedication and perseverance are truly motivating. Each awardee is synonymous with hardwork, passion and innovation, which has positively impacted countless…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 25, 2025
"India is proud to honour and celebrate their extraordinary achievements. Their dedication and perseverance are truly motivating," Prime Minister Modi said.
"Each awardee is synonymous with hard work, passion and innovation, which has positively impacted countless lives. They teach us the value of striving for excellence and serving society selflessly," he added.