• Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, former External Affairs Minister in the UPA government S.M. Krishna and tabla maestro Zakir Hussain were among six luminaries selected for the country’s second highest civilian honour Padma Vibhushan.

• Medical professional Dilip Mahalanabis, who pioneered the use of ORS,  and noted architect Balkrishna Doshi were selected for the Padma Vibhushan posthumously.

• US-based mathematician Srinivas Varadhan was also selected for the Padma Vibhushan award.

• No one has been named for the Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award.

• For 2023, President Droupadi Murmu has approved conferment of 106 Padma awards, including three duo cases (in a duo case, the award is counted as one).

• The list comprises six Padma Vibhushan, nine Padma Bhushan and 91 Padma Shri Awards. 

• Nineteen of the awardees are women and the list also includes two people from the category of foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI and seven posthumous awardees.

Padma Awards

• The Padma Awards are one of the highest civilian honours of India announced annually on the eve of Republic Day.

The awards are given in three categories: 

i) Padma Vibhushan (for exceptional and distinguished service).

ii) Padma Bhushan (distinguished service of higher order).

iii) Padma Shri (distinguished service).

• The award seeks to recognise achievements in all fields of activities or disciplines where an element of public service is involved.

• The Padma Awards are conferred on the recommendations made by the Padma Awards Committee, which is constituted by the Prime Minister every year. The nomination process is open to the public. Even self-nomination can be made.

Bharat Ratna

• Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian award of the country. It is awarded in recognition of exceptional service/performance of the highest order in any field of human endeavour. It is treated on a different footing from Padma Award. 

• The recommendations for Bharat Ratna are made by the Prime Minister to the President. No formal recommendations for Bharat Ratna are necessary. The number of Bharat Ratna Awards is restricted to a maximum of three in a particular year. 

When were the awards instituted?

• The government instituted two civilian awards — Bharat Ratna and Padma Vibhushan in 1954. 

• Padma Vibhushan had three classes namely Pahela Varg, Dusra Varg and Tisra Varg. These were subsequently renamed as Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.

• The award seeks to recognise works of distinction and is given for distinguished and exceptional achievements / service in all fields of activities / disciplines.

The fields include:

i) Art (includes music, painting, sculpture, photography, cinema and theatre)

ii) Social Work (includes social service, charitable service and community projects)

iii) Public Affairs (includes law, public life and politics)

iv) Science & Engineering (includes space engineering, nuclear science, information technology and research & development)

v) Trade & Industry (includes banking, economic activities, management, promotion of tourism and business)

vi) Medicine (includes medical research, distinction / specialisation in Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Siddha, Allopathy and Naturopathy)

vii) Literature & Education (includes journalism, teaching, book composing, literature, poetry, promotion of education and literacy, and education reforms)

viii) Civil Service (includes distinction / excellence in administration by government servants)

ix) Sports (includes popular sports, adventure, mountaineering and yoga)

x) Others (fields not covered above and may include propagation of Indian culture, protection of human rights, wildlife protection and conservation).

• The award is normally not conferred posthumously. However, in highly deserving cases, the government could consider giving an award posthumously.

• A higher category of Padma award can be conferred on a person only where a period of at least five years has elapsed since conferment of the earlier Padma award. However, in highly deserving cases, a relaxation can be made by the Awards Committee.

• The awards are presented by the President usually in March/April in a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The awardees are presented a certificate signed by the President and a medallion.

• The award does not amount to a title and cannot be used as a suffix or prefix to the awardees’ name.

This year’s awardees:

Padma Vibhushan

• Balkrishna Doshi (Posthumous) - Architecture - Gujarat

• Zakir Hussain - Art - Maharashtra

• S.M. Krishna - Public Affairs - Karnataka

• Dilip Mahalanabis (Posthumous) - Medicine - West Bengal

• Srinivasa Varadhan - Science & Engineering - USA

• Mulayam Singh Yadav (Posthumous) - Public Affairs - Uttar Pradesh

Padma Bhushan

• S.L. Bhyrappa - Literature & Education - Karnataka

• Kumar Mangalam Birla - Trade & Industry - Maharashtra

• Deepak Dhar - Science & Engineering - Maharashtra

• Vani Jairam - Art - Tamil Nadu

• Swami Chinna Jeeyar - Spiritualism - Telangana

• Suman Kalyanpur - Art - Maharashtra

• Kapil Kapoor - Literature & Education - Delhi

• Sudha Murty - Social Work - Karnataka

• Kamlesh D. Patel - Spiritualism - Telangana 

Padma Shri

• Dr. Sukama Acharya - Spiritualism - Haryana

• Jodhaiyabai Baiga - Art - Madhya Pradesh

• Premjit Baria - Art - Dadra and Nagar Haveli & Daman and Diu

• Usha Barle - Art - Chhattisgarh

• Munishwar Chanddawar - Medicine - Madhya Pradesh

• Hemant Chauhan - Art - Gujarat

• Bhanubhai Chitara - Art - Gujarat

• Hemoprova Chutia - Art - Assam

• Narendra Chandra Debbarma (Posthumous) - Public Affairs - Tripura

• Subhadra Devi - Art - Bihar

• Khadar Valli Dudekula - Science & Engineering - Karnataka

• Hem Chandra Goswami - Art - Assam

• Pritikana Goswami - Art - West Bengal

• Radha Charan Gupta - Literature & Education - Uttar Pradesh

• Modadugu Vijay Gupta - Science & Engineering - Telangana

• Ahmed Hussain & Shri Mohd Hussain (Duo) - Art - Rajasthan

• Dilshad Hussain - Art - Uttar Pradesh

• Bhiku Ramji Idate - Social Work - Maharashtra

• C.I. Issac - Literature & Education - Kerala

• Rattan Singh Jaggi - Literature & Education - Punjab

• Bikram Bahadur Jamatia - Social Work - Tripura

• Ramkuiwangbe Jene - Social Work - Assam

• Rakesh Radheshyam Jhunjhunwala (Posthumous) - Trade & Industry - Maharashtra

• Ratan Chandra Kar - Medicine - Andaman & Nicobar Islands

• Mahipat Kavi - Art - Gujarat

• M.M. Keeravaani - Art - Andhra Pradesh

• Areez Khambatta (Posthumous) - Trade & Industry - Gujarat

• Parshuram Komaji Khune - Art - Maharashtra

• Ganesh Nagappa Krishnarajanagara - Science & Engineering - Andhra Pradesh

• Maguni Charan Kuanr - Art - Odisha

• Anand Kumar - Literature & Education - Bihar

• Arvind Kumar - Science & Engineering - Uttar Pradesh

• Domar Singh Kunvar - Art - Chhattisgarh

• Risingbor Kurkalang - Art - Meghalaya

• Hirabai Lobi - Social Work - Gujarat

• Moolchand Lodha - Social Work - Rajasthan

• Rani Machaiah - Art - Karnataka

• Ajay Kumar Mandavi - Art - Chhattisgarh

• Prabhakar Bhanudas Mande - Literature & Education - Maharashtra

• Gajanan Jagannath Mane - Social Work - Maharashtra

• Antaryami Mishra - Literature & Education - Odisha

• Nadoja Pindipapanahalli Munivenkatappa - Art - Karnataka

• Prof. (Dr.) Mahendra Pal - Science & Engineering - Gujarat

• Uma Shankar Pandey - Social Work - Uttar Pradesh

• Ramesh Parmar & Ms. Shanti Parmar (Duo) - Art - Madhya Pradesh

• Dr. Nalini Parthasarathi - Medicine - Puducherry

• Hanumantha Rao Pasupuleti - Medicine - Telangana

• Ramesh Patange - Literature & Education - Maharashtra

• Krishna Patel - Art - Odisha

• K. Kalyanasundaram Pillai - Art - Tamil Nadu

• V.P. Appukuttan Poduval - Social Work - Kerala

• Kapil Dev Prasad - Art - Bihar

• S.R.D. Prasad - Sports - Kerala

• Shah Rasheed Ahmed Quadri - Art - Karnataka

• C.V. Raju - Art - Andhra Pradesh

• Bakshi Ram - Science & Engineering - Haryana

• Cheruvayal K. Raman - Agriculture - Kerala

• Sujatha Ramdorai - Science & Engineering - Canada

• Abbareddy Nageswara Rao - Science & Engineering - Andhra Pradesh

• Pareshbhai Rathwa - Art - Gujarat

• B. Ramakrishna Reddy - Literature & Education - Telangana

• Mangala Kanti Roy - Art - West Bengal

• K.C. Runremsangi - Art - Mizoram

• Vadivel Gopal & Masi Sadaiyan (Duo) - Social Work - Tamil Nadu

• Manoranjan Sahu - Medicine - Uttar Pradesh

• Patayat Sahu - Agriculture - Odisha

• Ritwik Sanyal - Art - Uttar Pradesh

• Kota Satchidananda Sastry - Art - Andhra Pradesh

• Sankurathri Chandra Sekhar - Social Work - Andhra Pradesh

• K. Shanathoiba Sharma - Sports - Manipur

• Nekram Sharma - Agriculture - Himachal Pradesh

• Gurcharan Singh - Sports - Delhi

• Laxman Singh - Social Work - Rajasthan

• Mohan Singh - Literature & Education - Jammu & Kashmir

• Thounaojam Chaoba Singh - Public Affairs - Manipur

• Prakash Chandra Sood - Literature & Education - Andhra Pradesh

• Neihunuo Sorhie - Art - Nagaland

• Dr. Janum Singh Soy - Literature & Education - Jharkhand

• Kushok Thiksey Nawang Chamba Stanzin - Spiritualism - Ladakh

• S. Subbaraman - Archaeology - Karnataka

• Moa Subong - Art - Nagaland

• Palam Kalyana Sundaram - Social Work - Tamil Nadu

• Raveena Ravi Tandon - Art - Maharashtra

• Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari - Literature & Education - Uttar Pradesh

• Dhaniram Toto - Literature & Education - West Bengal

• Tula Ram Upreti - Agriculture - Sikkim

• Dr. Gopalsamy Veluchamy - Medicine - Tamil Nadu

• Dr. Ishwar Chander Verma - Medicine - Delhi

• Coomi Nariman Wadia - Art - Maharashtra

• Karma Wangchu (Posthumous) - Social Work - Arunachal Pradesh

• Ghulam Muhammad Zaz - Art - Jammu & Kashmir.

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