The Government of India on Saturday announced the Padma Awards 2026, one of the country’s highest civilian honours, on the eve of Republic Day. The awards recognise distinguished service in fields ranging from public affairs and social work to science, arts, sports, medicine and education.
As per tradition, the honours were announced on January 25 and will be formally conferred by the President of India at a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan later this year.
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Among the award categories, Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian honour, saw the largest number of recipients. A total of 113 individuals were named for Padma Shri this year, including grassroots workers, artists, sportspersons, scientists and professionals whose work has had a sustained impact at the local and national levels.
Padma Shri awardees: who made the list
The Padma Shri list for 2026 features awardees from across India and abroad, representing a wide range of disciplines. Several awards have also been conferred posthumously.
Padma Shri Awardees 2026:
Shri Dharmendra Singh Deol (Posthumous) – Art – Maharashtra
Shri K T Thomas – Public Affairs – Kerala
Ms. N Rajam – Art – Uttar Pradesh
Shri P Narayanan – Literature and Education – Kerala
Shri V S Achuthanandhan (Posthumous) – Public Affairs – Kerala
Ms. Alka Yagnik – Art – Maharashtra
Shri Bhagat Singh Koshyari – Public Affairs – Uttarakhand
Shri Kallipatti Ramasamy Palaniswamy – Medicine – Tamil Nadu
Shri Mammootty – Art – Kerala
Dr. Nori Dattatreyudu – Medicine – United States of America
Shri Piyush Pandey (Posthumous) – Art – Maharashtra
Shri S K M Maelandhan – Social Work – Tamil Nadu
Shri Shatavadhani R Ganesh – Art – Karnataka
Shri Shibu Soren (Posthumous) – Public Affairs – Jharkhand
Shri Uday Kotak – Trade and Industry – Maharashtra
Shri V K Malhotra (Posthumous) – Public Affairs – Delhi
Shri Vellappally Natesan – Public Affairs – Kerala
Shri Vijay Amritraj – Sports – United States of America
Shri A E Muthunayagam – Science and Engineering – Kerala
Shri Anil Kumar Rastogi – Art – Uttar Pradesh
Shri Anke Gowda M. – Social Work – Karnataka
Ms. Armida Fernandez – Medicine – Maharashtra
Shri Arvind Vaidya – Art – Gujarat
Shri Ashok Khade – Trade and Industry – Maharashtra
Shri Ashok Kumar Singh – Science and Engineering – Uttar Pradesh
Shri Asok Kumar Haldar – Literature and Education – West Bengal
Shri Baldev Singh – Sports – Punjab
Shri Bhagwandas Raikwar – Sports – Madhya Pradesh
Shri Bharat Singh Bharti – Art – Bihar
Shri Bhiklya Ladakya Dhinda – Art – Maharashtra
Shri Bishwa Bandhu (Posthumous) – Art – Bihar
Shri Brij Lal Bhat – Social Work – Jammu and Kashmir
Shri Buddha Rashmi Mani – Archaeology – Uttar Pradesh
Dr. Budhri Tati – Social Work – Chhattisgarh
Shri Chandramouli Gaddamanugu – Science and Engineering – Telangana
Shri Charan Hembram – Literature and Education – Odisha
Shri Chiranji Lal Yadav – Art – Uttar Pradesh
Ms. Deepika Reddy – Art – Telangana
Shri Dharmiklal Chunilal Pandya – Art – Gujarat
Shri Gadde Babu Rajendra Prasad – Art – Andhra Pradesh
Shri Gafruddin Mewati Jogi – Art – Rajasthan
Shri Gambir Singh Yonzone – Literature and Education – West Bengal
Shri Garimella Balakrishna Prasad (Posthumous) – Art – Andhra Pradesh
Ms. Gayatri Balasubramanian and Ms. Ranjani Balasubramanian – Art – Tamil Nadu
Shri Gopal Ji Trivedi – Science and Engineering – Bihar
Shri Guduru Venkat Rao – Medicine – Telangana
Shri H V Hande – Medicine – Tamil Nadu
Shri Hally War – Social Work – Meghalaya
Shri Hari Madhab Mukhopadhyay (Posthumous) – Art – West Bengal
Shri Haricharan Saikia – Art – Assam
Ms. Harmanpreet Kaur Bhullar – Sports – Punjab
Shri Inderjit Singh Sidhu – Social Work – Chandigarh
Shri Janardan Bapurao Bothe – Social Work – Maharashtra
Shri Jogesh Deuri – Agriculture – Assam
Shri Juzer Vasi – Science and Engineering – Maharashtra
Shri Jyotish Debnath – Art – West Bengal
Shri K Pajanivel – Sports – Puducherry
Shri K Ramasamy – Science and Engineering – Tamil Nadu
Shri K Vijay Kumar – Civil Service – Tamil Nadu
Shri Kabindra Purkayastha (Posthumous) – Public Affairs – Assam
Shri Kailash Chandra Pant – Literature and Education – Madhya Pradesh
Ms. Kalamandalam Vimala Menon – Art – Kerala
Shri Kewal Krishan Thakral – Medicine – Uttar Pradesh
Shri Khem Raj Sundriyal – Art – Haryana
Ms. Kollakal Devaki Amma G – Social Work – Kerala
Shri Krishnamurty Balasubramanian – Science and Engineering – Telangana
Shri Kumar Bose – Art – West Bengal
Shri Kumarasamy Thangaraj – Science and Engineering – Telangana
Prof. Lars-Christian Koch – Art – Germany
Ms. Liudmila Viktorovna Khokhlova – Literature and Education – Russia
Shri Madhavan Ranganathan – Art – Maharashtra
Shri Maganti Murali Mohan – Art – Andhra Pradesh
Shri Mahendra Kumar Mishra – Literature and Education – Odisha
Shri Mahendra Nath Roy – Literature and Education – West Bengal
Shri Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar – Literature and Education – Delhi
Ms. Mangala Kapoor – Literature and Education – Uttar Pradesh
Shri Mir Hajibhai Kasambhai – Art – Gujarat
Shri Mohan Nagar – Social Work – Madhya Pradesh
Shri Narayan Vyas – Archaeology – Madhya Pradesh
Shri Naresh Chandra Dev Varma – Literature and Education – Tripura
Shri Nilesh Vinodchandra Mandlewala – Social Work – Gujarat
Shri Nuruddin Ahmed – Art – Assam
Shri Othuvaar Thiruthani Swaminathan – Art – Tamil Nadu
Dr. Padma Gurmet – Medicine – Ladakh
Shri Palkonda Vijay Anand Reddy – Medicine – Telangana
Ms. Pokhila Lekthepi – Art – Assam
Dr. Prabhakar Basavprabhu Kore – Literature and Education – Karnataka
Shri Prateek Sharma – Medicine – United States of America
Shri Praveen Kumar – Sports – Uttar Pradesh
Shri Prem Lal Gautam – Science and Engineering – Himachal Pradesh
Shri Prosenjit Chatterjee – Art – West Bengal
Dr. Punniamurthy Natesan – Medicine – Tamil Nadu
Shri R Krishnan (Posthumous) – Art – Tamil Nadu
Shri R V S Mani – Civil Service – Delhi
Shri Rabilal Tudu – Literature and Education – West Bengal
Shri Raghupat Singh (Posthumous) – Agriculture – Uttar Pradesh
Shri Raghuveer Tukaram Khedkar – Art – Maharashtra
Shri Rajastapathi Kaliappa Goundar – Art – Tamil Nadu
Shri Rajendra Prasad – Medicine – Uttar Pradesh
Shri Rama Reddy Mamidi (Posthumous) – Animal Husbandry – Telangana
Shri Ramamurthy Sreedher – Radio Broadcasting – Delhi
Shri Ramchandra Godbole and Ms. Suneeta Godbole – Medicine – Chhattisgarh
Shri Ratilal Borisagar – Literature and Education – Gujarat
Shri Rohit Sharma – Sports – Maharashtra
Ms. S G Susheelamma – Social Work – Karnataka
Shri Sangyusang S Pongener – Art – Nagaland
Sant Niranjan Dass – Spiritualism – Punjab
Shri Sarat Kumar Patra – Art – Odisha
Shri Saroj Mandal – Medicine – West Bengal
Shri Satish Shah (Posthumous) – Art – Maharashtra
Shri Satyanarayan Nuwal – Trade and Industry – Maharashtra
Ms. Savita Punia – Sports – Haryana
Prof. Shafi Shauq – Literature and Education – Jammu and Kashmir
Shri Shashi Shekhar Vempati – Literature and Education – Karnataka
Shri Shrirang Devaba Lad – Agriculture – Maharashtra
Ms. Shubha Venkatesha Iyengar – Science and Engineering – Karnataka
Shri Shyam Sundar – Medicine – Uttar Pradesh
Shri Simanchal Patro – Art – Odisha
Ms. Sivasankari – Literature and Education – Tamil Nadu
Dr. Suresh Hanagavadi – Medicine – Karnataka
Swami Brahmdev Ji Maharaj – Social Work – Rajasthan
Shri T T Jagannathan (Posthumous) – Trade and Industry – Karnataka
Shri Taga Ram Bheel – Art – Rajasthan
Shri Tarun Bhattacharya – Art – West Bengal
Shri Techi Gubin – Social Work – Arunachal Pradesh
Shri Thiruvaarur Bakthavathsalam – Art – Tamil Nadu
Ms. Tripti Mukherjee – Art – West Bengal
Shri Veezhinathan Kamakoti – Science and Engineering – Tamil Nadu
Shri Vempaty Kutumba Sastry – Literature and Education – Andhra Pradesh
Shri Vladimer Mestvirishvili (Posthumous) – Sports – Georgia
Shri Yumnam Jatra Singh (Posthumous) – Art – Manipur
About the Padma Awards
The Padma Awards including Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri are among India’s highest civilian honours and are awarded annually to recognise exceptional and distinguished service in any field of human endeavour.
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The awards are open to all persons irrespective of race, occupation, position or gender. Government servants are generally not eligible, except doctors and scientists.
How are Padma awardees selected?
According to official guidelines, nominations are invited through the Rashtriya Puraskar Portal and from state governments, Union ministries and the general public.
A committee constituted by the Prime Minister examines the nominations and submits its recommendations to the President for approval.
