
The highest number of recommendations the government got for the Padma awards this year were for disgraced Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the Hindustan Times reported.
Ram Rahim Singh got 4,208 of the 18,768 the government received.
Most of the recommendations came from Haryana's Sirsa, where the Dera sect has its headquarters.
Five of the recommendations were from Ram Rahim Singh himself -- who was on Monday sentenced to 20 years in jail for raping two of his devotees in 2002 -- the HT reported.
It added that the large number of recommendations appeared to be an "orchestrated effort" at getting Ram Rahim Singh nominated for the Padma awards.
He had received no recommendations in 2015 or 2016.
The nominations for the Padma awards, India's highest civilian awards, are an open process.
The recommendations are approved by a committee constituted by the prime minister every year.
The awards are given for excellence in art, literature and education, sports, medicine, social work, science and engineering, public affairs, civil service, trade and industry.
The awards are announced just before Republic Day.