Padma Shri for man who cremated over 25,000 unclaimed bodies

Mohammed Sharif has been named in the Padma Shri awardee list. (Source: ANI/Twitter)

A man who cremated over 25,000 unclaimed bodies is among those set to receive Padma Shri from President Ram Nath Kovind, according to news agency PTI. Mohammed Sharif from Faizabad lost his son 27 years ago. But he got to know about it only a month later. Ever since then Sharif has taken it on himself to cremate unclaimed bodies.

On Saturday, President Ram Nath Kovind approved the conferment of 141 Padma awards. The list comprises seven Padma Vibhushan, 16 Padma Bhushan and 118 Padma Shri awards. These awards are conferred by the President at ceremonial functions which are held at Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March/April every year.

Earlier today, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu had said that honouring unsung heroes with Padma awards is in a way “discovery of India”.

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“I appreciate the Government for recognizing the unrecognized irrespective of their visibility. One way, this is a discovery of India,” Naidu wrote on Twitter while congratulating the awardees.

Other relatively unknown names on the list include Jagdish Lal Ahuja, who serves free food to patients and attendants outside PGI hospital in Chandigarh and Javed Ahmad Tak, a specially-abled social worker from Jammu and Kashmir.

(with agency inputs)