President Ram Nath Kovind will confer Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan,and Padma Shri awards for the year 2022 at a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Monday.
General Bipin Rawat, the first Chief of Defence Staff who was killed in a helicopter crash last year, will be among those to be conferred Padma Vibhushan, the country’s second-highest civilian award. Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad will be among the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award, recipients.
The government announced 128 Padma awardees on the eve of Republic Day in fields such as art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, and civil service.
Former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, singer Sandhya Mukherjee and tabla exponent Anindya Chatterjee refused to accept the awards. Bhattacharjee said he does not know anything about the Padma Bhushan award. “Nobody said anything to me about this. If I have been given the award, then I refuse it.”