The prestigious Padma awards for the year 2019 announced on the eve of Republic Day will honour 112 inspiring people including 14 doctors, 12 farmers and 9 sportspersons, informed government officials.
The awardees are from all over India and all segments of the society. This time government has gone beyond excellence alone, identifying larger impact and their selfless services.
According to a Home Ministry official, the list of 4 Padma Vibhushan, 14 Padma Bhushan and 94 Padma Shri awardees was made from a record 50000 nominations that was 20 times more since 2014 when the government just received 2200 nominations.
For the Padma awards, 12 farmers were selected from 9 states. Kanwal Singh Chauhan was chosen for babycorn and mushroom, Jagdish Prasad Parikh for cauliflower and Vallabhbhai Vasrambhai Marvaniya for carrot.
In addition the progressive farmers who have adopted technology and scientific methods in farming are Ram Sharan Verma, Bharat Bhushan Tyagi and Venkateswara Rao Yadlapalli.
List of traditional cultivators who excelled by preserving old, traditional seeds and promoted organic farming include Babulal Dahiya, Kamala Pujhari, Rajkumari Devi and Hukumchand Patidar.
Moreover in the animal husbandry sector, Sultan Singh has been selected for fisheries and Narendra Singh for dairy-breeding.
The 14 doctors who will be honoured for serving the poor and needy include Omesh Kumar Bharti (rabies), Ramaswami Venkataswami (reconstruction surgery of burns), Sudam Kate (sickle cell) and Pratap Singh Hardia (cataract).
For helping the poor with quality healthcare at the least are doctors Smita and Ravindra Kolhe (Maharashtra), Shyama Prasad Mukherjee (Jharkhand) and R V Ramani (Tamil Nadu). Doctors who served in the remotest areas of the country are Tsering Norboo (Ladakh), Illias Ali (Assam), Ashok Laxmanrao Kukade (Maharashtra).
Doctors from country’s premier medical institutions who will be honoured with Padma awards include Jagat Ram (Director of PGIMER, Chandigarh), Sandeep Guleria (Indraprastha Apollo hospital and AIIMS, Delhi), Shadab Mohammad (King George Medical University, Lucknow) and Mammen Chandy (Director at Tata Medical Centre, Kolkata).
Additionally, 9 leading sportspersons from various disciplines to be honoured are Gautam Gambhir (cricket), Bombayla Devi Laishram (archery), Harika Dronavalli (chess), Prashanti Singh (basketball), Sunil Chhetri (football), Bachendri Pal (mountaineering), Sharath Kamal (table tennis), Ajay Thakur (kabaddi) and Bajrang Punia (wrestling).
Padma awardees 2019 also include tribal leader Kariya Munda, socialist leader Hukumdev Narayan Yadav, Sikh leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, grassroots Mahadalit woman leader Bhagirathi Devi and Sikh lawyer who fought for 1984 riot victims Harvinder Singh Phoolka.
India's companion abroad who will be honoured are anti-apartheid leader and current South Africa minister Pravin Gordhanand and President of Djibouti Ismail Omar Guelleh, who played a big role in enabling the rescue of thousands of Indian citizens from war-torn Yemen.
The government has also transformed the Padma awards' label of "government awards" to "people's awards", told another official. He added that all the awardees have been evaluated on merit through robust and meticulous ecosystem.
