2024 Padma Awards

January 26, 2024

The Padma Awards are India’s highest civilian honors conferred in three categories – Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri – recognizing exceptional contributions across diverse fields. They are announced annually ahead of Republic Day.

A total of 132 Padma Awards are announced for this year, including 2 duo cases where the award is counted as one. The extensive list consists of 5 recipients of the prestigious Padma Vibhushan, 17 eminent personalities who will receive the Padma Bhushan and 110 inspiring individuals being conferred the Padma Shri. Out of the recipients, 30 are women. There are also 8 non-resident or foreign awardees who trace their roots to India. Nine of the selected awardees will be honoured posthumously.

Padma Vibhushan Awardees

The Padma Vibhushan, India’s second highest award, has been conferred to 5 eminent personalities this year. These include former Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, renowned Bharatnatyam dancer Padma Subrahmanyam, veteran actor Chiranjeevi, noted social reformer Bindeshwar Pathak (posthumous) and acclaimed dancer Vyjayantimala Bali.

Padma Bhushan Honorees

17 distinguished individuals have been selected for India’s third highest award, the Padma Bhushan, this year. The list includes Bollywood star Mithun Chakraborty, eminent art patron Kiran Nadar, champion squash player Joshna Chinappa, former Union Health Minister CP Thakur and senior BJP leader Olanchery Rajagopal among others.

Extensive List of Padma Shri Awardees

As many as 110 inspiring personalities across fields have been conferred with the Padma Shri award. These include legendary singer Usha Uthup, late actor Vijaykanth, former UP CM Ram Naik, Foxconn Chairman Young Liu and 34 courageous unsung heroes working selflessly at grassroots levels across the country.

About Chami Murmu – A Padma Shri Awardee

Chami Murmu is a 52-year-old environmental activist from Jharkhand who has mobilized hundreds of women to plant over 28 lakh trees across 500 villages.
She faced initial opposition from male villagers but persevered in her mission, moving out of her own home when family opposed her work.
In 1996, men destroyed 1 lakh trees she had planted but she restarted her efforts after the culprits were arrested.
She never married and devoted her life to the cause of afforestation and women empowerment.
She diversified her efforts by building watershed systems for farmers, securing loans and financial independence for thousands of women.
Her decades of groundwork has led Chami Murmu to b conferred the prestigious Padma Shri award this year.

About Parbati Baruah – Another Notable Padma Shri Awardee

67-year-old Parbati Baruah, popularly known as ‘Hasti Kanya’, is India’s first woman elephant mahout from Assam.
She belongs to a family with centuries-old links to elephants and developed deep bonds with them since childhood.
She accomplished the feat of capturing her first elephant at age 14 and became a professional mahout in 1972.
Baruah has immense love for elephants, calling them her ‘lovers’, and spends her days caring for, riding and training them.
She has assisted multiple state governments to tackle issues like human-elephant conflicts and guiding stray elephant herds back to forests.
In 2003, she even had the difficult task of killing a rampaging elephant in Chhattisgarh.
Baruah continues to live a simple lifestyle deeply tied to elephants and is called whenever wild elephants stray into human habitats.
Her pioneering work as India’s first female elephant handler and conservation efforts have made Parbati Baruah a deserving Padma Shri recipient this year.

Wide Spectrum of Fields Honored

The extensive list of 2024 Padma Awards honour luminaries from diverse areas like art, social work, medicine, literature, sports, civil services, environmental activism and more. 30 of the awardees are women. There are also 8 NRIs/PIOs/OCIs and 9 posthumous awardees.

Controversies Around Recipients

There is often some controversy around Padma awardees. This time Foxconn’s business practices and Kiran Nadar’s art patronage has drawn criticism from certain groups. However, the Awards Committees have found these recipients to meet the criteria.

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