Editor’s Note: Padma Awards have been…

Padma Awards have been losing its credibility ?

Padma Awards are one of the prestigious awards given by the Government of India and everybody in the country is aware of it. In recent times, some of the citizens feel that the awards have been losing its credibility — nothing to do with the award as such but everything to do with the procedure involved in selecting the awardees. Earlier, the number of applications received for the awards were in hundreds but today it has reached over forty thousand. Out of which only a few receive the awards. Critics of today are sceptical about of the list of awardees and point towards discrepancies in the selection process. Is the government honouring those who have exhibited exceptional talent remains a question? The applications require thorough scrutiny and it is a time-taking procedure. Another question that pops up is that how is the ministry of home affairs able to process such a large quantity of applications in a matter few days? Are they really going through them?

When you look at the recent list of Padma Awards, it makes one wonder if the awards are distributed among the states like the government schemes — according to a ratio. Also, most of the artistes from the art and culture community opine that these awards were given to people either through lobbying, political pressures or for political gains. In the coming days, people urge the government to maintain the credibility of these prestigious awards by honouring those citizens who truly deserve. 

Jai Hind!

BR Vikram Kumar