Prime Minister Congratulates 2026 Padma Awardees Across Diverse Fields of Excellence

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulates the 2026 Padma Awardees for contributions across diverse fields of excellence. The Padma Awards are presented annually by the President of India, based on recommendations approved through the Padma Awards Committee process.

Padma Awards (India): 

Dimension	Key Details
Status	Provides for one of the highest civilian awards of the country.
Institution	Instituted in 1954.
Categories	1. Padma Vibhushan 2. Padma Bhushan 3. Padma Shri
Awarding authority	Authorises awards to be presented by the President of India every year.
Award components	Sanad (certificate) signed by the President and a medallion.
Fields covered	Covers multiple fields including arts, social work, public affairs, science, industry, medicine, literature, education, sports, and civil services.
Recommendation mechanism	Provides for awards to be conferred based on recommendations of the Padma Awards Committee.
Constitution of the committee	Mandates the Padma Awards Committee to be constituted by the Prime Minister every year.
Nomination	Regulates the nomination process as open to the public; self-nominations are permitted.
Eligibility	Applies to all persons without distinction of race, occupation, position or sex.
Exclusion and exception	Regulates ineligibility of government servants (including those working with PSUs), except doctors and scientists.
Posthumous awards	Regulates the award as normally not conferred posthumously; in highly deserving cases, the Government could consider posthumous conferment.
Annual ceiling	Limits the total number of annual awards to 120, excluding posthumous and awards to NRIs, foreigners, and OCIs.
Non-titular nature	Provides for the award to not amount to a title and it cannot be used as a suffix or prefix to the awardee’s name.
Padma Awards Committee	Chairperson (Cabinet Secretary) and members including Home Secretary, Secretary to the President, and four to six eminent persons.
Approval chain	Recommendations of the committee to be submitted to the Prime Minister and the President of India for approval.