Padma Awards are the highest civilian awards of the country after the Bharat Ratna and are conferred by the Government of India in three categories, namely, ‘Padma Vibhushan’, ‘Padma Bhushan’ and ‘Padma Shri’. The awards, which were instituted in 1954, are given in various disciplines such as arts, social work, public affairs, science and technology, medicine, trade and industry, literature and education, sports and civil service. While the ‘Padma Vibhushan’ is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service and ‘Padma Bhushan’ for distinguished service of high order, the ‘Padma Shri’ is given for distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced on the eve of the Republic Day every year and are actually given in the months of March/April. The awards are normally conferred on Indian citizens but some eminent persons of Indian origin and foreigners have also been conferred with the awards for their contributions in different fields.
Padma Awards 2020:
For the year 2020 the President has approved conferment of 141 Padma Awards including 4 duo cases (in a duo case, the Award is counted as one) as per list below. The list comprises of 7 Padma Vibhushan, 16 Padma Bhushan and 118 Padma Shri Awards. 33 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 18 persons from the category of Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI and 12 Posthumous awardees.
Padma Vibhushan: George Fernandes (Posthumously), Arun Jaitley (Posthumously), Smt. Sushma Swaraj (Posthumously), Sri Vishveshateertha Swamiji Sri Pejavara Adhokhaja Matha Udupi (Posthumous), Anerood Jugnauth (Mauritius), Smt.M.C.Mary Kom and Chhannulal Mishra.
Padma Bhushan: M. Mumtaz Ali, Syed Muazzem Ali(Posthumous – Bangladesh), Muzaffar Hussain Baig, Ajoy Chakravorty, Manoj Das, Balkrishna Doshi, Krishnammal Jagannathan, S. C. Jamir, Anil Prakash Joshi, Dr. Tsering Landol, Anand Mahindra, Neelakanta Ramakrishna Madhava Menon (Posthumous), Manohar Gopalkrishna Prabhu Parrikar (Posthumous), Prof. Jagdish Sheth, P. V. Sindhu and Venu Srinivasan.