2020 Padma awards: 119 awardees from diverse backgrounds

The list comprises seven Padma Vibhushans, 10 Padma Bhushans and 102 Padma Shri awards. Of the total awardees, 29 were women and one was transgender, while 16 were posthumous awardees.

President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the Padma Awardees at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Monday. (Twitter/rashtrapatibhvn)

President Ram Nath Kovind presented the Padma awards to 119 recipients — some of them posthumously — for the year 2020 at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Monday. Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah were among the attendees.

The list comprises seven Padma Vibhushans, 10 Padma Bhushans and 102 Padma Shri awards. Of the total awardees, 29 were women and one was transgender, while 16 were posthumous awardees.

The Padma awards for the year 2021 will be distributed Tuesday.

Attended the Padma Awards ceremony earlier this evening. Congratulations to those who have been conferred the #PeoplesPadma. pic.twitter.com/DUpuO1YC4Z

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 8, 2021

After the ceremony, Modi tweeted, “Attended the first of the Padma Award ceremonies for the years 2020 and 2021. I felt extremely happy to see grassroots level achievers being recognised for their exemplary efforts to further public good. Congratulations to all those who have been conferred the #PeoplesPadma.

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“From the environment to enterprise, agriculture to the arts, science to social service, public administration to cinema… recipients of the #PeoplesPadma come from diverse backgrounds. I would urge you all to know about each of the awardees and get inspired,” he tweeted.

Among the personalities awarded the Padma Vibhushan were BJP stalwarts Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj, former Union minister George Fernandes (all posthumously), and Hindustani classical singer Pandit Chhannulal Mishra.

Badminton player P V Sindhu won the Padma Bhushan award, along with Dr Anil Prakash Joshi for social work, Dr S C Jamir for public affairs and Mumtaz Ali for spiritualism.

Among those awarded the Padma Shri was Air Marshal Dr Padma Bandopadhyay (retd.). The decorated former flight surgeon was the first woman to be promoted to the rank of Air Marshal in the IAF and the second woman in the forces to be promoted to a three-star rank. She continues to serve people as a civilian now.

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Actor Kangana Ranaut and singer Adnan Sami also received the Padma Shri.

— With PTI inputs

Divya A

Divya A reports on travel, tourism, culture and social issues - not necessarily in that order - for The Indian Express. She's been a journalist for over a decade now, working with Khaleej Times and The Times of India, before settling down at Express. Besides writing/ editing news reports, she indulges her pen to write short stories. As Sanskriti Prabha Dutt Fellow for Excellence in Journalism, she is researching on the lives of the children of sex workers in India. ... Read More

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