Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday took to Twitter to recall his interaction with Padma Shri awardee Biren Kumar Basak during this year's Padma Awards ceremony, which took place at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on November 8. In his post, PM Modi thanked Basak, who is a saree weaver from West Bengal, for presenting something, which, he said, he greatly cherishes.
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“Shri Biren Kumar Basak belongs to Nadia in West Bengal. He is a reputed weaver, who depicts different aspects of Indian history and culture in his Sarees. During the interaction with the Padma Awardees, he presented to me something which I greatly cherish,” PM Modi tweeted, sharing an image of the said interaction between the two.
The Padma Shri awardee presented to the Prime Minister a sari, with the garment featuring a design of PM Modi addressing a group of people.
{{/usCountry}}The Padma Shri awardee presented to the Prime Minister a sari, with the garment featuring a design of PM Modi addressing a group of people.
{{/usCountry}}Biren Kumar Basak is among 119 individuals who were conferred the Padma Awards this year, of whom 102, including Basak, received the Padma Shri, while 10 and seven awardees received Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan respectively. He started his career in the 1970s with just Re 1; however, today, his annual turnover stands at ₹25 crore. Some of his clients include West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, cricket legend and BCCI president Saurav Ganguly, and music legends such as Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Asha Bhosle and Lata Mangeshkar, among others.
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In recent years, Padma Awards have come to be known as ‘People’s Padma' as individuals, not so well known, and from almost all walks of life, can now be nominated by the general public. In 2017, the Union government launched a website for people to submit their nominations
On August 9, the Centre opened nominations for 2022 Padma Awards, with the deadline for submissio being September 15. The recipients will be revealed on Republic Day next year, as is the practice every year.