Govt servants kept out of Padma race

The government will not consider the names of any serving government officials including those in the public sector undertakings and will restrict award to medical practitioners in the Padma awards for 2011.

The government will not consider the names of any serving government officials including those in the public sector undertakings and will restrict award to medical practitioners in the Padma awards for 2011.

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The government has released a list of 1,300 names they have received for consideration of Padma Awards, in response to RTI application by Subhash Aggarwal, one of the nominess.

Among prominent nominees are fashion designer Ritu Beri, actor Salman, Khan and actress Priyanka Chopa, Asim Premji of Wipro, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank for literature and shooter Tejaswami Sawant.

While the most nominations have come from artists including Bollywood, sports has been the least represented with none of the players of the present Indian cricket team and many medal winners in Asian Games and Commonwealth Games not finding place among nominees.

The government has, however, decided that serving government servants will not be considered, as there is already a government award to recognize their services. In case of medical practitioners and engineering, the government has decided to restrict their numbers as they are considered under Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award.

For Padma awards, a person has to be nominated by another for consideration. Self nomination is not allowed. Every year 200 Padma awards in different categorized is announced before Republic Day.