Padma Shri

Himmataram Bhambhu from Rajasthan received the Padma Shri for his efforts in environment conservation and safeguarding the lives and interests of wildlife and birds in his home district.

A wayside fruit vendor in rural Karnataka sold oranges for 10 years to build a village school — meet Harekala Hajabba, who won the Padma Shri For his extraordinary effort

Parshuram Gangavavne won the Padma Shri earlier this year for reviving a 500-year-old artform called Chitrakathi, wherein musicians and instrumentalists use voice modulation to narrate epics such as Ramayana and Mahabharata. But do you know why Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj found this art especially useful?

Bihar's Ramchandra Manjhi has overcome gender and caste-based prejudices, financial crisis and several other odds to keep ‘Naach’ alive. He narrates what it is like to be a 'cross dresser' in his career spanning eight decades.

The late IAS officer, AM Gokhale, introduced the concept of Village Development Board (VDB), which transformed rural governance not just in the State, but the rest of India. His loss due to the coronavirus was felt personally by the people and communities of Nagaland.

Telangana farmer Chintala Venkat Reddy has innovated a rice and wheat variety that is infused with vitamin D, for which he won an international patent from WIPO

Ali Manikfan from Lakshadweep was honoured with a Padma Shri under the category of ‘Grassroots Innovation’. Here’s his amazing life story.

Biren Kumar Basak from West Bengal remembers the days when he earned Rs 2.5 to now establishing a Rs 50-crore venture, employing 5,000 artisans. His sarees have won several awards including Padma Shri.

Col Quazi Sajjad Zahir (Retd), a hero of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, left for India with just Rs 20 in his pockets and whatever information he could gather on the Pakistan Army’s war plans was bestowed with a Padma Shri Award this year.

When the list of Padma awardees was announced earlier this week, some names familiar to readers of The Better India cropped up.