The Padma Awards – 2024, one of the highest civilian Awards of the country, conferred by Government of India to recognize exceptional contributions in various fields, every year on Republic Day, were announced on the eve of Republic Day, on Thursday
9 Posthumous awardees, 30 women in list
The awards for 2024, would be given to 132 recipients including 2 duo cases wherein
the Award would be counted as one. The list released by Ministry of Home Affairs comprises of 5 Padma Vibhushan, 17 Padma Bhushan and 110 Padma Shri Awards. 30 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 8 persons from the category of Foreigners / NRI / PIO / OCI besides 9 Posthumous awardees.
The awards would be given away by President Draupadi Murmu at a ceremony to be organized at Rashtrapati Bhawan around March/April. Earlier on January 23, the government had announced to award Bharat Ratna to former Bihar Chief Minister Kurpuri Thakur.
The awards conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri are given in various disciplines / fields of activities like art, social work, public affairs, science and
engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc.
The Padma Vibhushan is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service while the Padma Bhushan is given for distinguished service of high order. Similarly, the Padma Shri is given for distinguished service in any field.
Maharashtra tops list with 12 recipients, West Bengal on second with 11
The list of Padma Awards 2024 released on the eve on Republic Day revealed Maharastra having the maximum of 12 names conferred with the prestigious civilian hour followed by West Bengal having 11 recipients. The third highest recipients in any state include Uttar Pradesh with 10 while Karnataka had the fourth highest tally of 9 recipients. The fifth spot of the list is shared by southern states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu with 8 recipients each followed by Gujarat remaining the lone contender for sixth place with 6 recipients. Likewise, for the seventh position on the list, Bihar, Telangana and Odisha have four recipients each while the states of Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Assam, Haryana and Delhi share eight position in country with 3 names each. Further for the ninth position on the list, states of Punjab, Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir, Tripura besides Union territory of Ladakh and Jammu & Kashmir have two recipients each.
The list revealed, nine states had one names selected for conferment of the national honour including Nagaland, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Goa, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur.
Padma Vibhushan recipients
Celebrities who received the Padma Vibhushan include former Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, veteran actress Vyjayantimala Bali, late Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of Sulabh International,South Indian cinema’s mega star Chiranjeevi and Indian classical Bharatnatyam dancer Padma Subramaniam.
Foreign nationals and NRI recipients
1. Andaman & Nicobar Islands – K Chellammal (Others – Agriculture)
2. France – Charlotte Chopin Others (Yoga)
3. Taiwan – Young Liu (Trade & Industry)
4. France – Pierre Sylvain Filliozat (Literature & Education)
5. Papua New Guinea – Sasindran Muthuvel (Public Affairs)
6. France – Fred Negrit (Literature & Education)
7. Mexico – Ravi Prakash Singh (Science & Engineering)
8. France – Kiran Vyas (Others – Yoga)
9. Bangladesh – Rezwana Choudhury (Bannya Art)
Last year 106 Padma awards were conferred
In 2023, the President had approved 106 Padma awards, which included 6 Padma Vibhushan, 9 Padma Bhushan and 91 Padma Shri. 19 awardees were women. Seven people had been selected for this honor posthumously.
Bharat Ratna, Padma Awards started in 1954, given to people in India and abroad
The Government of India instituted country’s two highest civilian honors – Bharat Ratna and Padma awards in the year 1954. These awards are given to those people from India and abroad who have done prestigious and extraordinary work in any field carrying an element of public service.
As per rules, if someone had been given Padma Shri, then he could be given Padma Bhushan or Padma Vibhushan only after a gap of five years. However, the award committee can give relaxation in some specific cases. Further, names of all winners are published in the Gazette of India on the day after the honors are conferred by the President at the ceremony. Similarly, there is no provision for giving these awards posthumously but in some specific cases the government has full authority to take such a decision.
History of Padma awards
When Padma Awards were started in 1954 along with Bharat Ratna, only Padma Vibhushan was brought into existence and not Padmashree and Padma Bhushan.
Under Padma Vibhushan, the winners were honored with the names of first class, second class and third class.
However, this nomenclature remained in practice only for one year. Then in the notification issued by Rashtrapati Bhavan on January 8, 1955, these awards were named Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan.
