President Droupadi Murmu conferred Padma awards on Wednesday to distinguished honorees across diverse fields, including former Union Minister SM Krishna and Narendra Chandra Debbarma, the late president of the Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura.
Krishna received the Padma Vibhushan from President Murmu at a grand presentation ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Wednesday, and Debbarma, the late president of the Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura, received the Padma Shri (posthumously). The award was collected by his son, Subrata Debbarma. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were in attendance during the presentation ceremony.
Six distinguished persons were conferred the Padma Vibhushan this year, while nine were conferred the Padma Bhushan. Another 91 persons were conferred Padma Shri. Of the awardees this year, nine were women, while seven were conferred the honor posthumously.
The winners hail from every corner of the country, with 40 districts being represented by more than 50 awardees. Six of these 40 districts had never appeared in the Padma awards earlier, they said. Two of them, Anakapalle and Kakinada, are from Andhra Pradesh, while four others are Umaria from Madhya Pradesh, Ratnagiri from Maharashtra, Khowai from Tripura, and Chikkaballapur from Karnataka. The theme of the Padma award is that those who have dedicated their lives to a particular field have been recognized and honored, officials said.
Ten of the awardees are over 90 years old, while 14 are in their 80s, they noted. Former Karnataka chief minister S. M. Krishna, noted industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, and famous playback singer Suman Kalyanpur were given the Padma awards by Murmu at a ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Besides them, billionaire stock market investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, who passed away last year, was given the Padma Shri posthumously.
