State sent 83 names, Centre picked 11 others

It is true none of our recommendations were accepted, but this is because our government at the Centre has made the system more transparent, opening it up for all to apply. The names are picked directly from applications received online. RAM SHINDE, state protocol minister

MUMBAI: Of the 83 people the Maharashtra government recommended for the Padma awards this year, the Centre picked none.

While 11 of the Padma award recipients were eventually from Maharashtra, they were all directly selected by the Central government.

The state’s recommendations included former deputy chief minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader, the late Gopinath Munde, and Olympic wrestler, the late Khashaba Jadhav, among others.

The state government received 117 applications, after which a high-level committee of 10 ministers shortlisted 83 names from fields such as industry, medicine, literature, education and social work. Of these, 76 were for the Padma Shri, four for Padma Vibhushan and three for the Padma Bhushan. Munde, Jadhav and Ustad Allarakha Khan were recommended for the Padma Vibhushan posthumously, said officials close to the matter. They did not want to be named. The committee, headed by protocol minister Ram Shinde, had two meetings in 2018 to shortlist the names from the applications they received.

“It is true that none of our recommendations were accepted by the Centre this year,” Shinde said. “This is because our government at the Centre has made the system more transparent, and opened it for all to apply. The names are picked directly from the applications they receive online,” he said.