List of Padma Vibhushan award recipients

Padma Vibhushan
Padma Vibhushan medal suspended by a ribbon
Type	National Civilian
Country	India
Presented by	Government of India
Ribbon
Obverse	A centrally located lotus flower is embossed and the text "Padma" written in Devanagari script is placed above and the text "Vibhushan" is placed below the lotus.
Reverse	A platinum Emblem of India placed in the centre with the national motto of India, "Satyameva Jayate" (Truth alone triumphs) in Devanagari Script
Established	1954
First awarded	1954 Satyendra Nath Bose Nandalal Bose Zakir Husain Balasaheb Gangadhar Kher V. K. Krishna Menon Jigme Dorji Wangchuck
Last awarded	2021 Shinzo Abe S. P. Balasubrahmanyam (posthumous) Belle Monappa Hegde Narinder Singh Kapany (posthumous) Wahiduddin Khan B. B. Lal Sudarshan Sahoo
Total	321
Precedence
Next (higher)	Bharat Ratna
Next (lower)	Padma Bhushan
← Padma Vibhushan "Pahela Varg" (Class I)

The Padma Vibhushan is the second highest civilian award of the Republic of India. Instituted on 2 January 1954,^[1] the award is given for the "exceptional and distinguished service", without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex. The Padma Vibhushan award recipients are announced every year on Republic Day and registered in The Gazette of India—a publication released weekly by the Department of Publication, Ministry of Urban Development used for official government notices.^[2] The conferral of the award is not considered official without its publication in the Gazette. Recipients whose awards have been revoked or restored, both of which require the authority of the President, are also registered in the Gazette and are required to surrender their medals when their names are struck from the register.^[3] As of 2020, none of the conferments of Padma Vibhushan have been revoked or restored. The recommendations are received from all the state and the union territory governments, the Ministries of the Government, the Bharat Ratna and previous Padma Vibhushan award recipients, the Institutes of Excellence, the Ministers, the Chief Ministers and the Governors of State, and the Members of Parliament including private individuals. The recommendations received during 1 May and 15 September of every year are submitted to the Padma Awards Committee, constituted by the Prime Minister. The committee recommendations are later submitted to the Prime Minister and the President for the further approval.^[2]

When instituted in 1954, the Padma Vibhushan was classified as "Pahela Varg" (Class I) under the three-tier Padma Vibhushan awards; preceded by the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award,^[4] and followed by "Dusra Varg" (Class II), and "Tisra Varg" (Class III).^[1] On 15 January 1955, the Padma Vibhushan was reclassified into three different awards; the Padma Vibhushan, the highest of the three, followed by the Padma Bhushan and the Padma Shri. The criteria includes "exceptional and distinguished service in any field including service rendered by Government servants" but excluding those working with the Public sector undertakings with the exception of doctors and scientists. The 1954 statutes did not allow posthumous awards but this was subsequently modified in the January 1955 statute.^[2][3] The award, along with other personal civil honours, was briefly suspended twice in its history;^[5] for the first time in July 1977 when Morarji Desai was sworn in as the fourth Prime Minister.^[6][7] The suspension was rescinded on 25 January 1980, after Indira Gandhi became the Prime Minister.^[8] The civilian awards were suspended again in mid-1992, when two Public-Interest Litigations were filed in the High Courts questioning the civilian awards being "Titles" per an interpretation of Article 18 (1) of the Constitution.^[5][a] The awards were reintroduced by the Supreme Court in December 1995, following the conclusion of the litigation.^[10]

The recipients receive a Sanad (certificate) signed by the President and a medal with no monetary grant associated with the award.^[2] The decoration is a circular-shaped toned bronze medallion 1+3⁄4 inches (44 mm) in diameter and 1⁄8 inch (3.2 mm) thick. The centrally placed pattern made of outer lines of a square of 1+3⁄16 inches (30 mm) side is embossed with a knob embossed within each of the outer angles of the pattern. A raised circular space of diameter 1+1⁄16 inches (27 mm) is placed at the centre of the decoration. A centrally located lotus flower is embossed on the obverse side of the medal and the text "Padma" written in Devanagari script is placed above and the text "Vibhushan" is placed below the lotus. The Emblem of India is placed in the centre of the reverse side with the national motto, "Satyameva Jayate" (Truth alone triumphs) in Devanagari Script, inscribed on the lower edge. The rim, the edges and all embossing on either side is of white gold with the text "Padma Vibhushan" of silver gilt. The medal is suspended by a pink riband 1+1⁄4 inches (32 mm) in width.^[3] It is ranked fourth in the order of precedence of wearing of medals and decorations.^[11]

The first recipients of the Padma Vibhushan were Satyendra Nath Bose, Nandalal Bose, Zakir Husain, Balasaheb Gangadhar Kher, V. K. Krishna Menon, and Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, who were honoured in 1954. As of 2020, the award has been bestowed on 314 individuals, including seventeen posthumous and twenty-one non-citizen recipients.^[12] Some of the recipients have refused or returned their awards; P. N. Haksar,^[b] Vilayat Khan,^[c] E. M. S. Namboodiripad,^[d] Swami Ranganathananda,^[e] and Manikonda Chalapathi Rau refused the award; the family members of Lakshmi Chand Jain (2011) and Sharad Anantrao Joshi (2016) declined their posthumous conferments,^[f][g] and 1986 recipient Baba Amte and 2015 recipient Parkash Singh Badal returned theirs honour in 1991 and 2020 respectively.^{[21][h][22][i]} Most recently on 25 January 2021, the award has been bestowed upon seven recipients; Shinzo Abe, S. P. Balasubramaniam, Belle Monappa Hegde, Narinder Singh Kapany, Wahiduddin Khan, B. B. Lal and Sudarshan Sahoo.^[12]

Recipients[]

Awarded in 1954, Satyendra Nath Bose is best known for his work on quantum mechanics in the early 1920s, providing the foundation for Bose–Einstein statistics and the theory of the Bose–Einstein condensate.^[23]

1959 recipient John Mathai was country's first Railway Minister and later served as Finance Minister.^[24]

The Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh is the first and the only five-star rank officer with the Indian Air Force. Singh was conferred Padma Vibhushan in 1965.^[25][26]

1971 recipient Sumati Morarjee was the first woman in the world to head an organisation of ship owners ("Indian National Steamship Owners Association") and was later elected as the vice-president of the "World Shipping Federation".^[27]

Uday Shankar was a dancer known for his frequent collaboration with a Russian Ballet dancer Anna Pavlova and was awarded with the honour in 1971.^[28]

Awarded in 1972, Sam Manekshaw (left), often known as "Sam Bahadur" ("Sam the Brave"), was the first Field Marshal of the country and also of the Indian Army.^[26][29]

Vikram Sarabhai, widely considered as the "Father of Indian space program", was one of the founders and first chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation. Sarabhai was awarded posthumously in 1972.^[30]

Awarded in 1975, C. D. Deshmukh is the first Indian Governor of the Reserve Bank of India and later served as Finance Minister of India (1950–57).^[24][31]

1986 recipient Birju Maharaj is an exponent of Kalka-Bindadin gharana of Kathak dance.^[32]

Manmohan Singh is an economist who served as the Chief Economic Advisor (1972–76), Governor of Reserve Bank of India (1982–85), Finance Minister of India (1991–96), and later as the Prime Minister of India (2004–14). The Padma Vibhushan was bestowed upon Singh in 1987.^[24][33][34]

Awarded in 1989, M. S. Swaminathan, often called as the "Father of Green Revolution", is known for this contribution to Green Revolution in India through the development of high-yielding varieties of wheat.^[35]

1991 recipient M. F. Husain was a painter and is often called as the "Picasso of India".^[36]

V. R. Krishna Iyer was a former Supreme Court judge (1973–80) and is noted to have "humanised the law" through his judgements. Iyer received the conferment in 1999.^[37]

Awarded in 1999, Verghese Kurien, widely known as the "Father of the White Revolution", was the chief architect of Operation Flood, making India as one of the largest milk producer in the world.^[38]

A recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, country's highest award in cinema, film director Adoor Gopalakrishnan is credited with pioneering the new wave cinema movement in Malayalam cinema. Gopalakrishnan was awarded with the Padma Vibhushan in 2006.^[39]

Awarded in 2008, Khushwant Singh was a writer and journalist; and was a Member of Parliament in Rajya Sabha from 1980 to 1986.^[40]

2008 recipient Viswanathan Anand is country's first chess Grandmaster and five times winner of World Chess Championship.^[41]

Awarded in 2008, Edmund Hillary (left) was one of the first two individuals known to reach the summit of Mount Everest, which he accomplished with Tenzing Norgay (right) on 29 May 1953.^[42]

A nuclear scientist and former Director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre Anil Kakodkar is known for his contribution in the design and construction of Dhruva, India's largest research reactor. Kakodkar received the conferment in 2009.^[43]

Malayalam litterateur O. N. V. Kurup is a recipient of Jnanpith Award, country's highest literary honour. He was awarded with the Padma Vibhushan in 2011.^[44]

2014 recipient B. K. S. Iyengar was a yoga exponent and creator of dynamic yoga style, Iyengar Yoga.^[45]

Awarded in 2015, "Tragedy King" Dilip Kumar debuted as an actor in Jwar Bhata (1944) and acted in more than 60 Hindi films in a career that spanned over six decades.^[46]

Awarded in 2016, Hindustani classical vocalist Girija Devi is a disciple of Benares gharana, an Indian classical musical school. She is widely known for the thumri genre of singing.^[47]

Explanatory notes[]

Non-citizen recipients

Posthumous recipients

References[]

Bibliography[]

• Bhattacherje, S. B. (2009). Encyclopaedia of Indian Events & Dates. Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 978-81-207-4074-7.
• Edgar, Thorpe (2011). The Pearson General Knowledge Manual 2011. Pearson Education India. ISBN 978-81-317-5640-9.
• Hoiberg, Dale; Ramchandani, Indu (2000). Students' Britannica India. 1–5. Popular Prakashan. ISBN 978-81-7156-112-4.

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan.

• Official website
• "Awards & Medals". Ministry of Home Affairs (India). 14 September 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2015.