Buddhadeb refuses to accept Padma Bhushan
On the eve of Republic Day, the Centre bestowed the Padma Vibhushan award, India’s second-highest civilian award, on the country’s first Chief of Defence staff, late General Bipin Rawat, and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister late Kalyan Singh. The other two Padma Vibhushan awardees are noted musician Prabha Atre and Gita Press Chairman Radheshyam Khemka (posthumously).
Among the 17 Padma Bhushan awardees, two political leaders from the Congress and the CPI(M) — Ghulam Nabi Azad and former West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee figured in the prestigious award list. However, Buddhadeb refused to accept the award. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Tuesday came out with a list of 128 distinguished personalities from different fields for Padma Awards.
The list comprises four Padma Vibhushan, 17 Padma Bhushan, and 107 Padma Shri Awards. Out of 128 awardees, 34 are women and the list includes 10 persons from the category of Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI and 13 posthumous awardees. Padma Awards are conferred in three categories: Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. Padma Vibhushan is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service; Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of high order and Padma Shri for distinguished service in any field.
The Centre also awarded Padma Bhushan to the country’s two Covid vaccine makers Serum Institute’s founder Cyrus Poonawala and jointly honoured Bharat Biotech promoters Dr Krishna Ella and wife Suchitra Ella. Indian origin CEO of Google Satya Nadella and Microsoft CEO Sundar Pichai have been awarded Padma Bhushan. Former Home Secretary and CAG Rajiv Mehrishi, actor Victor Banerjee and Gujarati writer and preacher Swami Sachidanad got Padma Bhushan.
Among the 107 Padama Shri awardees Olympic Gold Medalist Neeraj Chopra, late IAS officer and Airports Authority Chairman Guruprasad Mohapatra, noted singer Sonu Nigam figured in the list.
Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh, who died last year, has been awarded Padma Vibhushan for Public Affairs, while late CDS General Bipin Rawat got the same honour for Civil Service. Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad will be honored with Padma Bhushan for Public Affairs. Rawat hails from Uttarakhand and Kalyan from Uttar Pradesh, the two States which are headed for Assembly polls. The political significance of the Centre’s decision to handpick Azad for giving the Padma award is not lost. Azad comes from Jammu & Kashmir, a Union territory, where the Centre is trying its best to win over the masses through the political process. Azad has been of late sidelined in the Congress and has also been in the news for repeatedly praising PM Narendra Modi.