Former Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu, actor-turned-politician Mithun Chakraborty, singer Usha Uthup and tennis player Rohan Bopanna were among a host of prominent personalities who were conferred with Padma awards by President Droupadi Murmu on Monday.
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Along with Mr. Naidu, founder of Sulabh International Bindeshwar Pathak and Bharatanatyam dancer Padma Subrahmanyam were conferred with Padma Vibhushan, India’s second highest civilian award. Pathak was given the award posthumously and it was received by his wife, Amola.
Apart from Mr. Chakraborty, popularly known as Mithunda, singer Usha Uthup, former Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik and industrialist Sitaram Jindal were conferred with the Padma Bhushan.
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Gujarat-based cardiologist Tejas Madhusudan Patel, veteran Marathi film director Dattatray Ambadas Mayaloo alias Rajdutt and Chandreshwar Prasad Thakur, a physician known for his contribution to research and policy on Kala Azar, were the other notable Padma Bhushan recipients.
Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, among others, were present at the function.
Padma Shri awardees include master carpet weaver from Uttar Pradesh Khalil Ahamad, Madhya Pradesh’s folk singer Kaluram Bamaniya, Bangladeshi singer Rezwana Choudhury Bannya, Chikankari embroidery artist from Uttar Pradesh Naseem Bano and Rajbongshi folk singer from West Bengal’s Cooch Behar Gita Roy Barman.
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Other notable awardees included Mr. Bopanna, spiritual figure from Tripura Chitta Ranjan Debbarma, banker Kalpana Morparia, philanthropist Kiran Nadar, social worker from Haryana Gurvinder Singh and folk singer from Uttar Pradesh Urmila Srivastava.
A heartwarming moment
The Padma awards ceremony also witnessed a heartwarming moment when noted folk dancer from Assam Drona Bhuyan made Ojapali and Deodhani dance form gestures to express his gratitude as he walked on the red carpet to receive the Padma Shri from the President. While returning to his seat, he went to Mr. Modi and touched his feet, a gesture the Prime Minister reciprocated.
Mr. Bhuyan is a prominent Ojapali and Deodhani dancer from Darrang district in Assam, where he has been working to preserve a thousand-year-old tradition, performing stories from epics and puranas.
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The Prime Minister was also seen interacting with Tripura’s spiritual leader Chitta Ranjan Debbarma, who was wearing a saffron attire.
Tribal farmer from Assam Sarbeswar Basumatary sat on his knees to express his gratitude before coming to accept the award from the President.
For 2024, the President had approved conferment of 132 Padma awards, including two duo cases [in a duo case, the award is counted as one]. While almost half of the awardees were conferred the awards on Monday, the remaining are likely to get them next week.
(With PTI inputs)