Will nominate only health care staff for Padma awards: Kejriwal
Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said in the Delhi assembly that doctors across the country should collectively be awarded the Bharat Ratna — the highest civilian award in India — this year for their service to the people of the country during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The assembly on Friday, in the second and last day of the monsoon session, unanimously passed a resolution that said the Delhi government will this year nominate only doctors and paramedic staff in the Capital for the Padma awards.
To this effect, Kejriwal also said that the Delhi government has so far received 2,100 nominations from the public, three days after it launched an e-mail address for residents to send their recommendations for the awards.
NEW DELHI:
A“It is our responsibility to deliver a message of respect to doctors, paramedics and health care workers for the service they have rendered during the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Kejriwal in his speech in the assembly on Friday.
“Every year, the central government invites nominations from states for Padma awards. We have decided to recommend names of only doctors and paramedic staff...”
On July 5, Kejriwal wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking him to consider awarding the Bharat Ratna collectively to the doctors’ community in India. On July 27, he announced that the Delhi government will nominate only doctors and health care workers this year for the country’s second, third and fourth highest civilian awards — Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri — to honour their contribution in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.
Friday’s motion on Bharat Ratna and Padma Awards for the medical fraternity was proposed in the assembly by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, who is also the leader of the Opposition in the assembly, said, “We support the proposal by Mr Bhardwaj. But, we request CM Arvind Kejriwal to make the list more inclusive...we request that we think of the safai karmcharis too when we talk about health care staff. Similarly, there are lift operators, teachers, police officers who were deployed on Covid-19 duty. All of them should be included in the Padma awards.”