President Droupadi Murmu conferred the Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri awards for the year 2026 at the Civil Investiture Ceremony-I held at Rashtrapati Bhavan

President Droupadi Murmu conferred the Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri awards for the year 2026 at the Civil Investiture Ceremony-I held at Rashtrapati Bhavan

President Droupadi Murmu presented the Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri awards for 2026 at the Civil Investiture Ceremony-I held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

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¨     For 2026, the President approved 131 Padma Awards, including 5 Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan, and 113 Padma Shri.

The list included:

¨     19 women awardees

¨     6 Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI awardees

¨     16 posthumous awardees

¨     2 duo cases (counted as one award)

Padma Awards 2027

¨     Nominations for Padma Awards 2027 opened on 15 March 2026.

¨     Last date for nominations: 31 July 2026.

¨     Nominations are accepted only through the Rashtriya Puraskar Portal.

¨     The Government has emphasized transforming the awards into “People’s Padma” by encouraging nominations from women, weaker sections, SCs/STs, divyang persons and grassroots social workers.

Padma Awards

¨     The Padma Awards were instituted in 1954 and are among the highest civilian awards of India.

¨     They are announced every year on the occasion of Republic Day.

Categories of Padma Awards

¨     Padma Vibhushan — for exceptional and distinguished service.

¨     Padma Bhushan — for distinguished service of a high order.

¨     Padma Shri — for distinguished service in any field.

¨     Eligibility: Any person, irrespective of race, occupation, position or sex, is eligible.

¨     Serving Government servants and PSU employees are generally not eligible, except Doctors and Scientists.

Key Features:

¨     The awards consist of a Sanad (Certificate), a Medallion and a miniature replica for ceremonial use.No monetary grant is attached.The award is not a title and cannot be used as a prefix or suffix to a person’s name.

¨     Posthumous Awards: Padma Awards are generally not conferred posthumously.However, the Government may consider such awards in highly deserving and rare cases.

¨     Selection Process: Nominations, including self-nominations, are open to the public.All recommendations are examined by the Padma Awards Committee, constituted annually by the Prime Minister.The Committee’s recommendations are submitted to the Prime Minister and the President for approval.

¨     Award Ceremony: The awards are presented by the President of India at ceremonial functions held at Rashtrapati Bhavan, usually during March or April every year.