 "Over 100 people have been awarded Padma Shri. X@PIBDehradun (L)/@PIB_Panaji (R)")
India is celebrating its 76th Republic Day today (January 26). New Delhi’s Kartavya Path, which is witnessing a grand parade to mark the festivities, is hosting Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto as the chief guest of this year’s celebrations.
Like every year, the Centre announced the winners of the prestigious Padma awards on the eve of Republic Day. As many as 139 awardees have been honoured with the coveted prizes. Of these, seven people will get Padma Vibhushan, 19 will get Padma Bhushan and 113 will get Padma Shri.
From doctors and folk singers to farmers and yoga practitioners, the contribution of several unsung heroes has been recognised by the government this year.
Let’s take a closer look.
Freedom fighter, doctors
Libia Lobo Sardesai, a 100-year-old freedom fighter from Goa, is among the 20 women Padma Shri awardees. She played a pivotal role in Goa’s freedom movement, co-founding an underground radio station – ‘Voz da Liberdabe (Voice of Freedom)’ – in 1955.
Her radio aired anti-colonial and pro-liberation messages from a forested area, which helped mobilise people against Portuguese rule. She, along with her husband, assisted the Indian Army in establishing a centre to communicate messages to the Portuguese in India to surrender.
Neerja Bhatla, a 65-year-old gynaecologist from Delhi, has also been awarded a Padma Shri for her “pioneering work in cervical cancer”. The former head of the Gynaecology Department of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi helped in creating guidelines for cervical cancer.
Dr Bhatla has worked for the prevention and elimination of cervical cancer. She was part of the trials that showed the effectiveness of the indigenously developed Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine by Serum Institute of India (SII), reported Indian Express.
Dr Vijaylaxmi Deshamane, who hails from a marginalised community in Kalaburagi, has been awarded Padma Shri. The veteran oncologist dedicated her life to providing free treatment to economically backward cancer patients. She is one of the leading experts on breast cancer in India.
Farmers, social workers
Three farmers have been honoured with Padma Shri. Hariman Sharma, an apple farmer from Himachal Pradesh’s Bilaspur, developed a low-chilling apple variety — HRMN99. This apple grows in low altitudes at 1,800 feet above sea level, making it a first-of-its-kind innovation, according to the government statement.
Subhash Khetulal Sharma from Maharashtra and L Hangthing from Nagaland are the other farmers awarded Padma Shri this year. Hangthing is a 58-year-old fruit farmer recognised for cultivating non-native fruits for over 30 years. He also introduced non-native fruits and vegetable saplings to his region.
Bhim Singh Bhavesh, a social worker from Bhojpur, who worked for the upliftment of the marginalised Musahar community through his foundation ‘Nayee Asha’ has also been honoured.
Yoga practitioners, travel bloggers
Sheikha Shaikha Ali Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, a yoga practitioner from Kuwait, is among the Padma Shri awardees. She is the founder of Daratma, Kuwait’s first licenced yoga studio. The 48-year-old has promoted yoga in the Gulf region.
She also launched Yomnak lil Yaman in 2021, a fundraiser for Yemeni refugees and internally displaced people.
Hugh Gantzer and Colleen Gantzer, the ‘OG’ travel blogger couple from Uttarakhand, have been honoured for promoting Indian tourism. They authored over 30 books and more than 3,000 articles, columns and feature magazines, making significant contributions to Indian travel journalism for five decades.
Colleen, who died in November 2024, will receive the award posthumously.
Other unsung heroes
Jonas Masetti, a Brazilian national, will receive India’s fourth-highest civilian honour for “promoting Indian spirituality, philosophy and culture”. The mechanical engineer turned Hindu spiritual leader founded Vishva Vidhya in Rio de Janeiro, an institution that spreads Vedanta and other aspects of Indian philosophy.
Tribal musician Joynacharan Bathari, 84, has spent the past six decades for the preservation and propagation of Dimasa folk music in Assam.
Gokul Chandra Dey, a 57-year-old Dhak player from West Bengal, shattered gender stereotypes by training 150 women in Dhak, a traditionally male-dominated field.
Batool Begum, a 68-year-old bhajan singer from Jaipur, is the first and only woman from Rajasthan to have performed at the Town Hall of Paris.
Velu Aasaan, 58, a percussionist from Tamil Nadu is “standardising and reviving traditional Parai Isai art form, taking it to the global level”.
Harvinder Singh, 33, is the first Indian to win a gold medal in the Paralympics in archery. He clinched a Gold at the 2024 Paris Paralympics and a Bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
Maharashtra’s Chaitram Pawar, a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, has worked for tribal development, forest conservation and alternate, sustainable models of village development, as per Indian Express.
Other awardees include Sally Holkar, a veteran social entrepreneur from Khorgone who helped revive the Maheshwari handloom industry; Venkappa Ambaji Sugatekar, a Gondhali folk maestro from Karnataka; Togalu Gombeyaata (leather puppetry) master puppeteer Bhimavva Doddabalappa Shillekyathara; and Lavjibhai Nagjibhai (64), a Tangaliya weaver from Dangasia community in Gujarat’s Surendranagar.
With inputs from agencies