Padma Awards 2020: Tarun Gogoi, Ram Vilas Paswan among posthumous awardees today

Padma Awards: Tarun Gogoi’s award was received by his wife Dolly Gogoi, while Ram Vilas Paswan’s son Chirag received the award on behalf of his father. (Image: ANI)

Former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, former Cabinet minister Ram Vilas Paswan were conferred the Padma Bhushan posthumously on November 9 for their distinguished service of high order in a ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Former Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, also India's first eight-time woman MP, and Nripendra Misra, veteran Indian Administrative Service officer, were also honoured with the Padma Bhushan by President Ram Nath Kovind for their contribution in public affairs and civil service, respectively.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were among the dignitaries present during the civil investiture ceremony to give away the awards.

Gogoi’s award was received by his wife Dolly Gogoi while Paswan’s son Chirag received the award on behalf of his father.

Former Assam CM Tarun Gogoi awarded the Padma Bhushan posthumously. His wife Dolly Gogoi received the award at Rashtrapati Bhawan in Delhi pic.twitter.com/98T2gfLNPi

— ANI (@ANI) November 9, 2021

Veteran sculptor Sudarshan Sahoo was given Padma Vibhushan for his exceptional and distinguished service. Sahoo, who hails from Odisha, was awarded the Padma Vibhushan for his contribution in the field of art.

Delhi | Veteran sculptor Sudarshan Sahoo awarded the Padma Vibhushan by President Ram Nath Kovind at 2021 Civil Investiture ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan pic.twitter.com/GuqM6yyxiO

— ANI (@ANI) November 9, 2021

Veteran doctor and educationist from Karnataka Belle Monappa Hegde and archaeology legend B B Lal were also given the Padma Vibhushan awards.

Social worker from Assam Lakhimi Baruah, Professor Jai Bhagwan Goyal, Hindi litterateur from Haryana's Kurukshetra, Manganiyar folk singer from Rajasthan Lakha Khan, acclaimed carnatic vocalist Bombay Jayashri Ramnath, senior orthopaedic surgeon from Dehradun Bhupendra Kumar Singh Sanjay and noted Hindi professor and journalist from Srinagar Chaman Lal Sapru were given Padma Shri awards.

Rajasthan-based Pali writer Arjun Singh Shekhawat, foremost authorities on Sanskrit Vyakaran Ram Yatna Shukla, Delhi-based social worker Jitender Singh Shunty, steeplechase athlete Sudha Singh, veteran Hindi writer from Bihar Mridula Sinha (posthumous), gear man of Coimbatore P Subramanian (posthumous), social worker from West Bengal Guru Maa Kamali Soren and tribal folk culture scholar from Bhopal Kapil Tiwari were also given the Padma Shri awards.

India's leading dwarf para athlete KY Venkatesh and Bangladesh liberation war veteran Lt Col Quazi Sajjad Ali Zahir were also honoured with the Padma Shri awards.

The Padma awards are given in three categories -- Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri -- and announced annually on the eve of Republic Day. The 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.

Earlier on November 8, former Union ministers George Fernandes, Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj and former President of Mauritius Anerood Jugnauth were conferred the Padma Vibhushan posthumously for their exceptional and distinguished service.

In Pics | Padma Awards 2020: Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley among posthumous awardees; check full list here

The face of women boxing in India MC Mary Kom, who is a six-time AIBA women's boxing champion, Shri Shri Vishwesha Theertha Swamiji of Udupi (posthumous), popularly known as Shri Pejavara Swamiji, were also honoured with the Padma Vibhushan by President Kovind in the presence of Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah among others.

Former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar (posthumous), who had also served as the chief minister of Goa, chairman of Mahindra Group Anand Mahindra, chairman of Sundaram-Clayton Group, Venu Srinivasan, former Nagaland chief minister of Nagaland SC Jamir were given Padma Bhushan.

Badminton star P V Sindhu, Kashmiri political leader Muzaffar Hussain Baig, Tsering Landol, the first gynaecologist from Leh, bilingual author Manoj Das (posthumous), Krishnammal Jagannathan, a social activist from Tamil Nadu, were also among those who received the Padma Bhushan award.

Bollywood star Kangna Ranaut, film producer Karan Johar, television and film producer Ekta Kapoor, senior Professor at PGIMER, Chandigarh, Digambar Behera, internationally renowned Indian classical dance exponent Indira PP Bora were among those conferred the Padma Shri.

President Kovind also presented Padma Shri to Harekala Hajabba, an orange vendor in Mangalore who saved money to build a school in his village and Mohammad Shareef, a cycle mechanic turned social worker who performed last rites of unclaimed dead bodies with full dignity, on November 8. Abdul Jabbar Khan (posthumous) from Bhopal, who was known for his fight for justice for victims of Bhopal gas tragedy, was also awarded Padma Shri on the day.

(With inputs from PTI)