New Delhi: President Draupadi Murmu conferred the Padma Bhushan Award, the third-highest civilian award in India, to people from different walks of life in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
Veteran actor Mithun Chakraborty and singer Usha Uthup were honoured in the field of Arts, while, Tejas Madhusudan Patel received in the field of Medicine, Sitaram Jindal was awarded in the field of Trade & Industry and Former Vice President Venkaiah Naidu awarded with others.
On receiving a Padma award, actor Mithun Chakraborty expressed his happiness and said that receiving this award was not expected. "I am very happy. I have never asked anything for myself from anyone in my life. When I got a call that you were being given Padma Bhushan, I was silent for a minute because I had not expected it..." he said.
Singer Usha Uthup also reacted and called it the biggest moment of life, "This is the biggest moment of my life to be recognized by your country and government. It is a great thing that ordinary people like me have been selected for this award...''
The Padma Awards were instituted in 1954 and are considered one of the highest civilian honours of India and are announced annually on the eve of Republic Day. Padma awards are given in three categories including Padma Vibhushan for exceptional and distinguished service, Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of higher order, and Padma Shri for distinguished service. The Awards are conferred after the recommendations made by Padma Awards Committee which is chaired by the Prime Minister Every year
