President to confer Padma Awards on March 11, 15

New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind will confer the Padma Awards on March 11 and 15 in two investiture ceremonies at the Rashtrapati Bhavan as the Modi government has claimed to have transformed the national honours into "people's choice" trophies by involving the general public in sending entries.

For the awards announced on the eve of Republic Day, the government received a record 50,000 nominations, 20 times more than the 2,200 entries in 2014.

The awardees include 12 farmers from nine states, 14 doctors from 11 states, nine sportspersons, 16 social workers and others representing various fields.

Of the 112 named for the awards, 56 will receive the honour on March 11.

Among those to be awarded on March 11 include Balasaheb alias Balwant Moreshwar Purandare from Maharashtra who will be honoured with the Padma Vibhushan.

There will be eight Padma Bhushan honours to be given to John Chambers, Sardar Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Pravin Jamnadas Gordhan, Vishwanathan Mohanlal, Budhaditya Mukherjee, Karia Munda, Kuldip Nayar (posthumous) and Hukumdev Narayan Yadav.

The Padma award winners will interact with the winners of Padma Quiz organised by the government last week which saw participation by 35,499 people.