Consider the following statements regarding Padma Awards. All Governme...
All persons without distinction of race, occupation, position or sex are eligible for these awards. However, government servants including those working with PSUs, except doctors and scientists, are not eligible for these awards.
According to Padma awards selection criteria, the award is given for “special services” and not just for “long service”. “It should not be merely excellence in a particular field, but the criteria has to be ‘excellence plus’.
Any citizen of India can nominate a potential recipient. One can even nominate one’s own self. All nominations are to be done online where a form is to be filled along with details of the person or the organisation being nominated. An 800-word essay detailing the work done by the potential awardee is also to be submitted for the nomination to be considered.
The government opens the Padma awards portal for nominations between May 1 and September 15 every year. It also writes to various state governments, governors, Union territories, central ministries and various departments to send nominations.
There is also no rigid criteria or trenchant formula for selection, according to MHA. However, the lifetime achievement of an individual is among the main considerations.
All nominations received for Padma awards are placed before the Padma Awards Committee, which is constituted by the Prime Minister every year. The Padma Awards Committee is headed by the Cabinet Secretary and includes Home Secretary, Secretary to the President and four to six eminent persons as members. The recommendations of the committee are submitted to the Prime Minister and the President of India for approval.
Can the Padma Awards be refused?
While explicit consent is not sought from the awardee, before the final list is announced, they receive a call from the MHA. If they do not seek to receive the award, they can refuse at that time and their names will be removed without any noise. However, historically, there have been a few instances of more public refusals.