Padma awards for unsung heroes: PMO
MORE THAN 18,000 NOMINATIONS WERE RECEIVED AFTER THE GOVT SWITCHED OVER TO AN ONLINE PROCESS FOR NOMINATIONS
NEW DELHI: As the government announced Padma awards on Wednesday, the underlying message was probably clear: it wants to give recognition to the unsung heroes and people who are working at the grassroots level across the country.
Sources in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) underlined that more than 15 unsung heroes were awarded, but no doctors from Delhi got the civilian awards. “Special emphasis has been laid on awarding recognition to those who have been rendering selfless service to society at the grassroots level. This government has been instrumental in recognising the works of unsung persons working at grassroots level in awarding the prestigious Padma Awards,” said a source.
From Meenakshi Amma, a 76-year-old Kalayaripattu trainer from Kerala, fireman Bipin Ganatra of Kolkata to Baba Balbir Singh, a developer of underground sewerage system, people working at the grassroots have been chosen for the awards.
Breaking the ‘tradition’ of Delhi doctors bagging Padma awards, the Narendra Modi government did not award civilian honours to a single medical practitioner this year.
It was a deliberate decision, indicated a source from the PMO.
“The list of Padma awardees for medicine is missing the usual popular names from the elite hospitals of the Capital. Not a single doctor from Delhi has made it to the list, which usually features many. Doctors of the rich and famous, who usually push for their doctor nominees to be awarded, have been given a miss this time,” said a PMO source.
More than 18,000 nominations for 4,000 nominees were received after the government switched over to an online process for filing nominations last year.
While sources maintained the process was transparent this year, government managers pointed out that successive governments were accused of favouritism, lobbying, and at times, rigging the system.
The government on Wednesday announced the second-highest civilian honour of the country — the Padma Vibhushan — for political heavyweights such as Sharad Pawar of the Nationalist Congress Party and Murli Manohar Joshi of the BJP. Two more politicians — former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh Sundar Lal Patwa and former Lok Sabha speaker PA Sangma were also posthumously chosen for the honour. In all, the government announced 89 Padma awards on the eve of Republic Day. The list included seven Padma Vibhushan and Padma Bhushan awardees each and 75 Padma Shri recipients.