The Padma awards have always been coloured by politics. This year too there has been intense media speculation on how some names came to be included in the list — and why others were left out. The veil has finally been lifted from the decision-making process, all thanks to the Right to Information Act. In response to RTI activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal’s application, the Ministry of Home Affairs has released the full list of people considered for the 2010 Padma awards, along with the names of people who recommended them. The final 181 recipients were picked from among 1163 names put up in two batches before the Padma Awards Committee. The first batch of 1,132 names reached the Committee before the official deadline of November 20, 2009. A second batch containing 31 names reached the Committee after the deadline.
