Report by Ananya Singh
New Delhi, Nov 9: Just like there are Gallantry Awards for the people in the Defence Forces, India awards civilians (a person who is not in the armed services or the police force) the Padma Awards for exceptional work in fields from art to literature and education, from sports to trade and industry, from science and engineering to public affairs, from medicine to civil service, etc. The Padma Awards are divided into the following:
- Padma Shri: The 4th highest civilian award for distinguished service in any field.
- Padma Bhushan: The 3rd highest civilian award for distinguished service of high order.
- Padma Vibhushan: The 2nd highest civilian award for exceptional and distinguished service.
Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian award of the Republic of India. The President of India conferred the Padma Awards to the nominated people from around the world at the Civil Investiture Ceremony- 1 held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. A total of 4 Padma Vibhushan, 8 Padma Bhushan, and 61 Padma Shri awards for the year 2020 were awarded in the morning of 8th Nov 2021. Of these, 12 were posthumously (awarded after death) awarded. The Civil Investiture ceremony is being held over 2 days, i.e., 8th and 9th November in the morning at 11:00 am and evening at 5:00 pm
Among the dignitaries present on the occasion were the Vice President of India – Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister – Narendra Modi, and Union Minister for Home Affairs – Amit Shah.
| Name | Status | Field | Award |
| George Fernandes | Former Minister of Defence of India | Public Affairs (Bihar) Posthumously | Padma Vibhushan |
| Arun Jaitley | Former Finance Minister Former Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha | Public Affairs (Delhi) Posthumously | Padma Vibhushan |
| Sir Anerood Jugnauth GCSK | Former President and Prime Minster of Mauritius | Public Affairs (Mauritius) | Padma Vibhushan |
| M C Mary Kom | World’s only woman to be crowned World Champion 6 times | Sports (Manipur) | Padma Vibhushan |
| Chhannulal Mishra | Thumri (a light romantic song in Hindi Classical music) Veteran performing for last 6 decades | Art (Uttar Pradesh) | Padma Vibhushan |
| Former External Affairs Minister Former Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha | Public Affairs (Delhi) Posthumously | Padma Vibhushan | |
| Sri Vishveshateertha Swamiji | Spiritual Leader | Others (Karnataka) Posthumously | Padma Vibhushan |
| Shinzo Abe | Former President of Japan | Public Affairs (Japan) | Padma Vibhushan |
| SP Balasubramanian | Singer | Art (Tamil Nadu) Posthumously | Padma Vibhushan |
| Anand Mahindra | Chairman of Mahindra Group | Trade and Industry (Maharashtra) | Padma Bhushan |
| P V Sindhu | First Indian to win Silver medal in in Olympics and Gold in World Championships | Sports (Telangana) | Padma Bhushan |
| Venu Srinivasan | Chairman of TVS Group | Trade and Industry (Tamil Nadu) | Padma Bhushan |
| Rani Rampal | Captain of Indian Hockey team | Sports (Haryana) | Padma Shri |
| Dr Raman Gangakhedkar | Head Scientist at Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases | Science and Engineering (Maharashtra) | Padma Shri |
| Dr. Padmavathy Bandopadhyay | First woman Air Marshall in the Indian Air Force | Medicine (Uttar Pradesh) | Padma Shri |
