New Delhi, (Samajweekly) President Ram Nath Kovind presented Padma Vibhushans to six eminent persons, including late playback singer S.P. Balasubramanyam and archaeologist B.B. Lal, Padma Bhushan to 10 persons, and Padma Shri to 92 from across multiple fields for 2021 on Tuesday.
The awards were presented by the President at the civil investiture ceremony held in two parts, of 45 minutes each in the morning and evening, at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were present. On Monday, the Padma awards for 2020 were presented in a similar fashion, in two parts in view of the pandemic situation.
Apart from Lal and singer Balsubramanyam, who received the award posthumously for arts, the Padma Vibhushan awards were presented to cardiologist Dr Belle Monappa Hegde (medicine), Narinder Singh Kapany (posthumous) (science and engineering), sculptor Sudarshan Sahoo (arts) and Maulana Wahiuddin Khan (posthumous) (others-spiritualism).
The Padma Bhushan, were presented to former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi (posthumous) (public affairs), former Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan (public affairs), top bureaucrat Nripendra Mishra (civil service), late Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan (posthumous) (public affairs); former Gujarat Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel (posthumous) (public affairs), playback singer/vocalist Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chithra (arts), Dr Chandrashekhar B, Kambara (literature and education); Dr Sayed Kalbe Sadiq (posthumous) (others-spiritualism); businessman Rajnikant Devidas Shroff (trade and industry) and Tarlochan Singh (social work).
Padma Shris were presented to Sarod & Afghan Rabani player Ustad Gulfam Ahmed (art), basketball player P. Anitha (sports), Assam banker Laxmi Baruah (social work), Rajani Bector (trade and industry), folk artiste Gopiram Bargayn Burabhakat (arts), retired principal Sujit Chatterjee (literature and education), Ladakh’s Tsultrim Chonjor (social work), artist Dulari Devi (arts), dancer Prof Dr Iyu Bhuyan (arts), Gujarati poet and folk singer Dadudan Gadhavi (posthumous) (arts), Professor Jai Bhagwan Goyal (literature and education); mountaineer Dr Anshu Jamsenpa (sports), folk singer Purnamasi Jani (arts), author Namdev Chandrabhan Kamble (literature and education) and Dr Rajat Kumar Kar (literature and education).
The other Padma awardees included Punjab’s Prakash Kaur (social work), renowned puppeteer K Kesavasamy (arts), phulkari artist Lajwanti (arts), folk singer Lakha Khan Manganiar (arts), folk singer Dulal Manki (arts), Kaithapram Damodaran Namboodiri (arts), Dr Chandrakant Sambhaji Pandav (medicine), Dr Jitendra Nath Pandey (posthumous) (medicine), Prof Sundaram Soloman Pappaiah (literature and education – journalism), Jaswantiben Jamnadas Popat (trade and industry), Dr Birubala Rabha (social work), Rama Swamy Annavarapu (arts), famous Carnatic singer Bombay Jayashree Ramnath (arts) and Dr Dhananjay Diwakar Sagdeo (medicine).
In the evening session, the Padma Shri awards were conferred , among others, on tribal painter from Madhya Pradesh Bhuri Bai (arts), Chhattisgarh’s folk dancer Radhye Shyam Barle (arts), West Bengal’s master weaver Birendra Kumar Basak (arts), Sangkhumi Bualchhuak (social work), teacher Bijoya Chakravarty (public affairs); ‘Dom Raja’ of Varanasi ghats Jagdish Chaudhary (posthumous) (social work), table tennis player Mouma Das (sports), Indian American Shrikant Datar (literature and education), Odisha’s Shanti Devi (social work), artist Parshuram Vishram Gangavane (arts), Dr Jagdish Chandra Halder (literature and education), Bodo language activist, Dr Prof Mangal Singh Hazowary (literature and education), folk dancer Matha B Manjamma Jogati (arts) and music directors, and singers Mahesh Kumar Kanodia and Naresh Kumar Kanodia (both posthumous) (arts).
The evening event also saw Padma Shri being awarded to Odisha’s 102-year-old ‘Nanda Sir’, Nanda Prusty (literature and education), Kerala author, Balan Putheri (literature and education), folk dancer Kanaka Raju (arts), Telugu poet and Ashthavadhani expert, Dr Asavadi Prakash Rao (literature and education), musician Dandamudi Sumathi Rama Mohan Rao (arts), folk-dancer Maitya Ram Reang (arts), Vipassana activist, Ashok Kumar Sahu (others-spiritualism); mother to 1500 orphaned children over 45 years, Sindhutai Sapkal ‘Maai’ (social work), Assam’s 90-year-old author and editor, Dr Roman Sarmah (literature and education – journalism), Uttarakhand’s progressive farmer, Prem Chand Sharma (agriculture), innovative farmer, Chandra Shekhar Singh (agriculture), lepers’ doctor, Dr Dilip Kumar Singh (medicine), deaf wrestler Virender Singh (sports), Spain’s Father Carlos G. Valles (posthumous) (literature and education) and author Prof Usha Yadav (literature and education).
