Padma Awards 2026 Complete List of Winners: UPSC Current Affairs

Description

Why In News?

President Droupadi Murmu has conferred 131 Padma Awards for the year 2026.

About Padma Awards 2026

The Padma Awards is one of India's highest civilian honours, announced annually on the eve of Republic Day.

These awards recognize individuals for their exceptional and distinguished service across various fields including art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature, education, sports, and civil service.

Classification of Awards

Initially created as a single three-tiered honor called the Padma Vibhushan (with Pahela Varg, Dusra Varg, and Tisra Varg), the awards were restructured into three categories in 1955:

Padma Vibhushan: India's second-highest civilian award (for exceptional and distinguished service).
Padma Bhushan: India's third-highest civilian award (for distinguished service of a high order).
Padma Shri: India's fourth-highest civilian award (for distinguished service).

Selection Process

Announcement: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) unveils the official list on January 25th each year.

Selection Criteria: The awards prioritize excellence, dedication, and long-term contribution to society. A focus remains on "unsung heroes"—ordinary citizens making extraordinary contributions at the grassroots level.

Conferment: The President of India presents the awards at ceremonial functions held at Rashtrapati Bhawan, in March or April. In 2026, the first Civil Investiture Ceremony took place on May 25.

2026 Padma Award

The President of India approved 131 Padma Awards for the year 2026.

Padma Vibhushan: 5
Padma Bhushan: 13
Padma Shri: 113 (including 2 duo cases, where the award is counted as one).
Gender Representation: 19 awardees are women.
International Recognition: 6 recipients fall under the category of Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI.
Posthumous Honours: 16 individuals received the award posthumously.

2026 Padma Vibhushan Winners

SN	Name	Field	State / Country
1	Shri Dharmendra Singh Deol (Posthumous)	Art (Film Acting)	Maharashtra
2	Shri K T Thomas	Public Affairs	Kerala
3	Ms. N Rajam	Art (Violin Maestro)	Uttar Pradesh
4	Shri P Narayanan	Literature and Education	Kerala
5	Shri V S Achuthanandhan (Posthumous)	Public Affairs	Kerala

2026 Padma Bhushan Winners

SN	Name	Field	State / Country
1	Ms. Alka Yagnik	Art	Maharashtra
2	Shri Bhagat Singh Koshyari	Public Affairs	Uttarakhand
3	Shri Kallipatti Ramasamy Palaniswamy	Medicine	Tamil Nadu
4	Shri Mammootty	Art	Kerala
5	Dr. Nori Dattatreyudu	Medicine	USA
6	Shri Piyush Pandey (Posthumous)	Art	Maharashtra
7	Shri S K M Maeilanandhan	Social Work	Tamil Nadu
8	Shri Shatavadhani R Ganesh	Art	Karnataka
9	Shri Shibu Soren (Posthumous)	Public Affairs	Jharkhand
10	Shri Uday Kotak	Trade and Industry	Maharashtra
11	Shri V K Malhotra (Posthumous)	Public Affairs	Delhi
12	Shri Vellappally Natesan	Public Affairs	Kerala
13	Shri Vijay Amritraj	Sports	USA

2026 Padma Shri Winners

Prominent and "unsung" recipients from the list of 113 Padma Shri awardees.

Name	Field	Notable Achievement
Anke Gowda M.	Social Work	Established 'Pustak Mane', the world's largest free-access library with over 2 million books.
Armida Fernandez	Medicine	Pediatrician who established Asia's first human milk bank in Mumbai.
Rohit Sharma	Sports	Former Captain of the Indian Cricket Team.
Harmanpreet Kaur Bhullar	Sports	Captain of the Indian Women's Cricket Team.
Brij Lal Bhat	Social Work	Promoted Sanatan Dharma and national integration in terrorism-affected regions of Kashmir via Vivekananda Kendra.
Nilesh Vinodchandra Mandlewala	Social Work	Recognized for efforts in organ donation, providing a "new lease on life" to many.
Taga Ram Bheel	Art	Dedicated 55 years to the Algoja (a traditional musical instrument).
Kumarasamy Thangaraj	Science & Engineering	Geneticist who traced human migration from Africa to India.
K Pajanivel	Sports	Nurtured Silambam, an ancient Tamil weapon-based martial art.
Kailash Chandra Pant	Literature & Education	Dedicated over 60 years to propagating the Hindi language.
Savita Punia	Sports	Distinguished contribution to Indian Hockey.
Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar	Literature & Education	Former UGC chief and prominent academician.
Veezhinathan Kamakoti	Science & Engineering	Director of IIT Madras.
Bhiklya Ladakya Dhinda	Art	90-year-old tribal Tarpa player from Maharashtra.
Budri Thati	Social Work	Established schools in Naxal-affected regions of Chhattisgarh.
Khem Raj Sundriyal	Art	Preserved Jamdani weaving and revived Panipat 'khes' techniques.

Source: THEHINDU

Attempt Daily Quiz

PRACTICE QUESTION

Q. Consider the following statements regarding the Padma Awards 2026:

A total of 131 Padma Awards were approved by the President, including 16 posthumous awards.
Late actor Dharmendra Singh Deol was awarded the Padma Vibhushan.
The list of awardees includes 19 women.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

A) 1 and 2 only

B) 2 and 3 only

C) 1 and 3 only

D) 1, 2, and 3

Answer: D

Explanation:

Statement 1 is correct: A total of 131 Padma Awards were approved by the President, which included 16 posthumous awards and 2 duo cases.

Statement 2 is correct: The late, iconic film actor Dharmendra Singh Deol was awarded the Padma Vibhushan posthumously for his distinguished contributions to the field of art.

Statement 3 is correct: The list of awardees featured exactly 19 women, along with 6 individuals from the category of Foreigners, NRIs, PIOs, and OCIs.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

For the year 2026, the President approved the conferment of 131 Padma Awards, which includes 2 duo cases.

The five recipients of the Padma Vibhushan are Shri Dharmendra Singh Deol (Posthumous), Justice K T Thomas, Ms. N Rajam, Shri P Narayanan, and Shri V S Achuthanandhan (Posthumous).

The awards are given in three categories: Padma Vibhushan for exceptional and distinguished service, Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of a high order, and Padma Shri for distinguished service in any field.