Republic Day Honors: 45 'Unsung Heroes' Awarded Padma Shri

New Delhi: In recognition of their long-overlooked contributions, as many as 45 individuals from across the country have been named in the Padma Shri awards list under the “unsung heroes” category on the occasion of Republic Day. The awardees include a former bus conductor who established the world’s largest free-access library, a paediatrician who set up Asia’s first human milk bank, and a 90-year-old practitioner of a rare tribal musical tradition.

Among them is Anke Gowda, a former bus conductor who founded Pustak Mane, the world’s largest free-access library, housing over two million books in 20 languages along with rare manuscripts. The 75-year-old bibliophile from Haralahalli village near Mysuru in Karnataka was selected for his efforts to democratise access to knowledge and empower learners across India.

Also honoured is Armida Fernandes, the Mumbai-based paediatrician who established Asia’s first human milk bank, significantly improving survival prospects for premature and vulnerable infants. Other awardees include Bhagwandas Raikwar, a trainer in Bundeli war art from Madhya Pradesh; Bhiklya Ladakya Dhinda, a 90-year-old tribal Tarpa player from Maharashtra; and Brij Lal Bhat, a distinguished social worker from Jammu and Kashmir.

Continuing the tradition of celebrating ordinary Indians making extraordinary contributions, this year’s Padma awards recognise a wide spectrum of achievers from across the country. Their work spans preservation of indigenous heritage, promotion of national integration in border regions, revival of tribal languages and martial arts, safeguarding of dying art forms and weaves, protection of ecological wealth, and promotion of sanitation and public welfare.

The list also features Budri Thati, who established schools in Naxal-affected areas of Chhattisgarh; Charan Hembram from Odisha; Chiranji Lal Yadav, a master craftsman from Moradabad; Dharmiklal Chunilal Pandya, an exponent of the traditional Gujarati art form Maanbhatt; and Hyderabad-based geneticist Kumaraswamy Thangaraj, whose research traced early human migration from Africa to India.

According to sources, each awardee has overcome significant personal hardship to excel in their field and serve society at large. The list includes individuals from marginalised communities, Dalits, tribal groups, and people from remote and difficult terrains.

Among others honoured are K. Pajanivel of Puducherry, recognised for nurturing Silambam, an ancient Tamil martial art; senior journalist Kailash Chandra Pant, who has worked for over six decades to promote Hindi; and Khem Raj Sundriyal from Haryana, who has preserved and taught tapestry and Jamdani weaving techniques to thousands of artisans across northern India.

Sundriyal is also credited with reviving the traditional Panipat khes with new designs and introducing polyester yarn into handloom weaving.

The complete list:

Padma Vibhushan (5 Awardees)

Awarded for exceptional and distinguished service

• Shri Dharmendra Singh Deol (Posthumous) – Art

• Shri K T Thomas – Public Affairs

• Ms. N Rajam – Art

• Shri P Narayanan – Literature and Education

• Shri V S Achuthanandhan (Posthumous) – Public Affairs

Padma Bhushan (13 Awardees)

Awarded for distinguished service of high order

• Ms. Alka Yagnik – Art

• Shri Bhagat Singh Koshyari – Public Affairs

• Shri Kallipatti Ramasamy Palaniswamy – Medicine

• Shri Mammootty – Art

• Dr. Nori Dattatreyudu – Medicine (USA)

• Shri Piyush Pandey (Posthumous) – Art

• Shri S K M Maeilanandhan – Social Work

• Shri Shatavadhani R Ganesh – Art

• Shri Shibu Soren (Posthumous) – Public Affairs

• Shri Uday Kotak – Trade and Industry

• Shri V K Malhotra (Posthumous) – Public Affairs

• Shri Vellappally Natesan – Public Affairs

• Shri Vijay Amritraj – Sports (USA)

Padma Shri (113 Awardees)

Awarded for distinguished service in any field

Science, Engineering, and Technology

• Shri A E Muthunayagam

• Shri Ashok Kumar Singh

• Shri Chandramouli Gaddamanugu

• Shri Gopal Ji Trivedi

• Shri Juzer Vasi

• Shri K Ramasamy

• Shri Krishnamurty Balasubramanian

• Shri Kumarasamy Thangaraj

• Shri Prem Lal Gautam

• Ms. Shubha Venkatesha Iyengar

• Shri Veezhinathan Kamakoti

Art

• Shri Anil Kumar Rastogi

• Shri Arvind Vaidya

• Shri Bharat Singh Bharti

• Shri Bhiklya Ladakya Dhinda

• Shri Bishwa Bandhu (Posthumous)

• Shri Chiranji Lal Yadav

• Ms. Deepika Reddy

• Shri Dharmiklal Chunilal Pandya

• Shri Gadde Babu Rajendra Prasad

• Shri Gafruddin Mewati Jogi

• Shri Garimella Balakrishna Prasad (Posthumous)

• Ms. Gayatri Balasubramanian and Ms. Ranjani Balasubramanian (Duo),

• Shri Hari Madhab Mukhopadhyay (Posthumous)

• Shri Haricharan Saikia

• Shri Jyotish Debnath

• Ms. Kalamandalam Vimala Menon

• Shri Khem Raj Sundriyal

• Shri Kumar Bose

• Prof. (Dr.) Lars-Christian Koch (Germany)

• Shri Madhavan Ranganathan

• Shri Maganti Murali Mohan

• Shri Mir Hajibhai Kasambhai

• Shri Nuruddin Ahmed

• Shri Othuvaar Thiruthani Swaminathan

• Ms. Pokhila Lekthepi

• Shri Prosenjit Chatterjee

• Shri R Krishnan (Posthumous)

• Shri Raghuveer Tukaram Khedkar

• Shri Rajastapathi Kaliappa Goundar

• Shri Sangyusang S Pongener

• Shri Sarat Kumar Patra

• Shri Satish Shah (Posthumous)

• Shri Simanchal Patro

• Shri Taga Ram Bheel

• Shri Tarun Bhattacharya

• Shri Thiruvaarur Bakthavathsalam

• Ms. Tripti Mukherjee

• Shri Yumnam Jatra Singh (Posthumous)

Medicine

• Ms. Armida Fernandez

• Shri Guduru Venkat Rao

• Shri H V Hande

• Shri Kewal Krishan Thakral

• Dr. Padma Gurmet

• Shri Palkonda Vijay Anand Reddy

• Shri Prateek Sharma (USA)

• Dr. Punniamurthy Natesan

• Shri Rajendra Prasad

• Shri Ramchandra Godbole and Ms. Suneeta Godbole (Duo)

• Shri Saroj Mandal

• Shri Shyam Sundar

• Dr. Suresh Hanagavadi

Social Work

• Shri Anke Gowda M.

• Shri Brij Lal Bhat

• Dr. Budhri Tati

• Shri Hally War

• Shri Inderjit Singh Sidhu

• Shri Janardan Bapurao Bothe

• Ms. Kollakal Devaki Amma G

• Shri Mohan Nagar

• Shri Nilesh Vinodchandra Mandlewala

• Ms. S G Susheelamma

• Swami Brahmdev Ji Maharaj

• Shri Techi Gubin

Literature and Education

• Shri Asok Kumar Haldar

• Shri Charan Hembram

• Shri Gambir Singh Yonzone

• Shri Kailash Chandra Pant

• Ms. Liudmila Viktorovna Khokhlova (Russia)

• Shri Mahendra Kumar Mishra

• Shri Mahendra Nath Roy

• Shri Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar

• Ms. Mangala Kapoor

• Shri Naresh Chandra Dev Varma

• Dr. Prabhakar Basavprabhu Kore

• Shri Rabilal Tudu

• Shri Ratilal Borisagar

• Prof. Shafi Shauq

• Shri Shashi Shekhar Vempati

• Ms. Sivasankari

• Shri Vempaty Kutumba Sastry

Trade and Industry

• Shri Ashok Khade

• Shri Satyanarayan Nuwal

• Shri T T Jagannathan (Posthumous)

Sports

• Shri Baldev Singh

• Shri Bhagwandas Raikwar

• Ms. Harmanpreet Kaur Bhullar

• Shri K Pajanivel

• Shri Praveen Kumar

• Shri Rohit Sharma

• Ms. Savita Punia

• Shri Vladimer Mestvirishvili (Posthumous, Georgia)

Public Affairs and Civil Service

• Shri K Vijay Kumar (Civil Service)

• Shri Kabindra Purkayastha (Posthumous, Public Affairs)

• Shri R V S Mani (Civil Service)

Others (Agriculture, Archaeology, Animal Husbandry, etc.)

• Shri Buddha Rashmi Mani (Archaeology)

• Shri Jogesh Deuri (Agriculture)

• Shri Narayan Vyas (Archaeology)

• Shri Raghupat Singh (Posthumous, Agriculture)

• Shri Rama Reddy Mamidi (Posthumous, Animal Husbandry)

• Shri Ramamurthy Sreedher (Radio Broadcasting)

• Sant Niranjan Dass (Spiritualism)

• Shri Shrirang Devaba Lad (Agriculture)