New Delhi: The Centre on Saturday announced winners of the Padma Awards, on the eve of the 76th Republic Day. According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), there are 7 Padma Vibhushan awardees, 19 Padma Bhushan awardees and 113 Padma Shri awardees.
Those who have been awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the country's second-highest civilian award are - Duvvur Nagheshwar Reddy (Medicine - Telangana), former Chief Justice of India Justice (Retd) Jagdish Singh Khehar, Kumudini Rajnikanth Lakhia, Lakshiminarayana Subramaniam, MT Vasudevan Nair (Posthumous), Osamu Suzuki (Posthumous) and well-known singer Sharda Sinha (Posthumous).
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
The winners of the Padma Bhushan, the country's third-highest civilian award are Prasar Bharti ex-chairperson A Surya Prakash, well-known actor Anant Nag, economist Bibek Debroy (Posthumous), Assam's folk culture exponent Jatin Goswami, Jose Chako Periappuram, Kailash Nath Dikshit, former Lok Sabha Speaker and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Manohar Joshi (Posthumous), Nalli Kuppuswami Chetti, veteran Telugu actor Nandamuri Balakrishna, former India hockey player PR Sreejesh, Pankaj Patel, singer Pankaj Udhas (Posthumous), Rambahadur Rai, Sadhvi Ritambhara, S Ajith Kumar, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, Shobana Chandrakumar, former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi (Posthumous) and Vinod Dham.
Among the notable winners of the Padma Shri, the country's fourth-highest civilian award are former SBI chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya and former India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who hails from Tamil Nadu.
Veteran Marathi actor Ashok Saraf, artist Achyut Palav, sportsperson Harvinder Singh, and veteran footballer IM Vijayan have also been awarded the Padma Shri.
Marathi writer Maruti Chitampalli, Pawan Goenka, Prashant Prakash, Radha Bahin Bhatt, Sajjan Bhajanka, Satyapal Singh, and Sant Ram Deswal have also been conferred with the Padma Shri.
Vinayak Lohani, Vilas Dangre, Vijayalakshmi Deshmane, Vijay Nityanand Surishwar Ji Maharaj, Venkappa Ambaji Sugatekar, Velu Aassan, Vasudeo Kamath, Vadiraj Raghawendracharya Panchmukhi, Tushar Shukla, Thiyam Devi, Tejendra Majumdar, Syed Hasan, Swami Pradiptannanda, Surinder Vasal, Suresh Soni, Subhash Sharma, Stephen Knapp, Soniya Nityanand, Shyam Agarwal have also been awarded the Padma Shri.
Libia Lobo Sardesai, who played an important role in Goa's freedom movement, cofounded an underground radio station -- 'Voz da Liberdabe (Voice of Freedom)' -- in a forested area in 1955 to rally people against the Portuguese rule, Gokul Chandra Dey, a 57-year-old Dhak player from West Bengal, who broke the gender stereotype by training 150 women in the male-dominated field and a vocal advocate of woman empowerment and 82-year-old Sally Holkar, who transformed once dying Maheshwari craft and founded a Handloom school in Maheshwar, Madhya Pradesh have been also honoured with the Padma Shri.
The MHA said that these awards are conferred by the President at a ceremonial function at the Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March/April every year. Padma Vibhushan is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service, Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of high order and Padma Shri for distinguished service in any field.
13 personalities from Tamil Nadu have received Padma Awards this year.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the Padma Award winners. In a post on X, PM Modi said, "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 hard work, passion and innovation, which has positively impacted countless lives. They teach us the value of striving for excellence and serving society selflessly."
