Padma award nominations drop to less than a lakh, from 4.85 lakh in 2022
Padma Awards nominations, 2023 has witnessed a drop with the registered nominations at less than 1 lakh.
The number of Padma Awards entries was 4.85 lakh in 2022. Officials attributed the rise in numbers to Covid-19 and the government's initiative to popularise them as People's Padma.
And as life is moving back to normal, this year the number has dropped significantly.
For 2023, as many as 106 distinguished individuals were named for Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhusan and Padma Shri which included former UP CM and Samajwadi Party chief late Mulayam Singh Yadav and former external affairs minister SM Krishna.
The nominations for Padma Awards for 2024 closed on September 15 after which the entries were scrutinised and now a committee headed by Union cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba will discuss the nominations with the panel.
The awards are announced on January 26, every year.
«The number of nominations were high during Covid -19 (2020-21) as work from home was effective and more individuals were interested in applying for the awards. The entries this year are, however, higher than pre-Covid duration,» explained another official.
The number of Padma Awards nominations have been rising steadily.
While the number of Padma applications stood at 46,555 in 2020, it rose to 4.85 lakhs in 2022. Till 2015, the process of nomination was physical but it was changed to online in 2016, following which the number of nominations went up to 18,768 in the same year and 35,595 in 2018, as per the official data.
Similarly, the number of applications in 2019 went up to 49,992 and 46,555 in 2020, respectively, the names for which were announced in 2021.
«The online nomination helps to create a wider pool and was the reason behind starting the
