Besides Prof Mansoor, the committee consisted of Sujan R. Chinoy, former diplomat; I V Subba Rao and Kirit Shelat, former civil servants; Ashok Malik, former additional secretary in MEA; Sandhya Purecha, Bhartantayam guru; Kavita Khanna, Vinod Khanna’s wife; Kanyakumari Nivedita Raghunath Bhide, vice president of Vivekanand Kendra; Gagan Narang, Olympic medalist; Sanjiv Goenka; BK Mruthyunjaya, executive secretary of Brahma Kumaris; Manjul Bhargava, Princeton University professor, as per the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Actor Victor Banerjee was also part of the panel but didn’t participate in the meeting due to family emergency. The panel was headed by union cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba while principal advisor to PM, PK Mishra, home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla and secretary to the President of India, were the official appointees. The committee met 5-7 times physically and virtually between September last year and January 2023 before finalising the names and sending them to the President and Prime Minister for approval.
The panel had named author and philanthropist Sudha Murty, physicist Deepak Dhar, novelist S L Bhyrappa, noted playback singer Vani Jairam, Vedic scholar Tridandi Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji and Dilip Mahalanabis, known globally for his work on Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS), actor Raveena Tandon among Padma awardees.
Instituted in 1954, the three Padma awards – Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri – are among the highest civilian awards in the country.
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