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Padma award nominations to close this week but doors still open
The window to nominate next year’s Padma awardees will close this week. But if the past is any indicator, it is never too late to make the pitch.
The window to nominate next year’s Padma awardees will close this week. But if the past is any indicator, it is never too late to make the pitch.
Only six in every 10 Padma awards given this year had someone recommend their name before the September 15 deadline last year.
The remaining four made it to the list of awardees without even a nomination.
The scheme to give the three Padma awards — Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri — require government departments, ministers and the public to send across their nominations for the award by the deadline. And recommendations received after the deadline are not considered.
But the scheme does not explicitly bar giving the awards to anyone else.
And so, the government gives.
In the 2016 edition, for instance, there were 47 people who were given the awards without following the recommendation route.
This included five of the 10 people awarded the highest Padma award, Padma Vibhushan, this year; actor Rajinikanth, spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Indian-American economist Avinash Dixit, industrialist Dhirubhai Ambani (posthumous) and former governor Jagmohan.
On an average, the government receives recommendations for around 2,000 people. Some of these are made by people on their own, but aspirants are often known to lobby for support.
Many get letters of recommendation from state governments, ministers and political leaders to back their case.
Bollywood playback singer Udit Narayan — who sang the BJP’s official campaign song for the 2014 general elections, “Modi Aane Wala Hai” — apparently did not leave anything to chance. The home ministry had received 10 letters of recommendation in Narayan’s favour, including five from central ministers such as finance minister Arun Jaitley.
After he got the award, a rather modest Narayana told HT in an interview: “I feel I deserved the award. But, I never expected to get one.”
Not every aspirant, however, is as industrious.
Nearly 750 of the 2,311 nominations received by the home ministry last year were self-nominations. Only two of them, however, made it to the final list.
