131 Personalities Announced for Padma Awards, Including Actor Dharmendra Among 5 Padma Vibhushan Recipients; Rohit Sharma Receives Padma Shri

New Delhi: The Padma Awards have been announced. This year, 131 eminent personalities from the country will be honored. The names have been announced. For the year 2026, 5 Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan, and 113 Padma Shri awards have been announced. Actor Dharmendra has received the Padma Vibhushan award posthumously. These awards are given to those who have made outstanding contributions in various fields such as art, social service, industry, science, medicine, sports, etc. These awards are announced every year on Republic Day. These honors are conferred at a special ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Former Jharkhand CM and late leader Shibu Soren and singer Alka Yagnik are among the 13 personalities selected for the Padma Bhushan. Cricketer Rohit Sharma, para-athlete Praveen Kumar, women’s cricketer Harmanpreet Kaur, hockey player Savita Punia, and 113 other personalities have been selected for the Padma Shri.

Gaffaruddin Mewati, the sole singer of ‘Pandun Ka Kada’
Among the Padma awardees, 19 are women. This includes 6 people from the foreign/NRI/PIO/OCI category. 16 personalities are being awarded posthumously. Gaffaruddin Mewati, a resident of Deeg district in Rajasthan, is a Jogi Bhapang player and a singer of ‘Pandun Ka Kada’. He is the only folk singer of ‘Pandun Ka Kada’. Gaffaruddin received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship award in 2024. He has given Bhapang performances and ‘Pandun Ka Kada’ renditions in many places in India and abroad. He remembers more than 2500 couplets of ‘Pandun Ka Kada’.

Anke, who sold his house to build a library, receives honor
Anke Gowda is a resident of Haralahalli village near Mysore in Karnataka. At the age of 20, while working as a bus conductor, he started collecting books. He spent a large part of his earnings on books, even selling his house. Today, his ‘Pustak Mane’ library has more than 2 million rare books. Gowda will be awarded the Padma Shri in 2026 for his contributions to literature and education.

Former DIG Indrajeet Singh cleans the streets daily
88-year-old Indrajeet Singh Sidhu, a former DIG from Punjab, was a 1964 batch IPS officer who retired in 1996. He lives in Sector 49 of Chandigarh (IAS-IPS Officers Cooperative Society). For more than 10 years, he has been cleaning the streets every day at 6 AM, using a borrowed sanitation cart.

Budhri Tati runs an old age home and an orphanage

Social worker Budhri Tati is a resident of Hiranar village in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh. She started social service at the age of 15. She has worked to raise awareness and educate women in Bastar. She also runs an old age home and an orphanage.

Tati has dedicated her life to social service. Because of this, she did not get married. Tati has also undertaken foot marches to approximately 545 villages in the Bastar division to empower women. She has also received a doctorate for her social work. She has been honored with 22 awards so far, including more than 3 national-level awards.

Padma Awards are given in 3 categories
The Padma Awards, among the highest civilian honors in the country, are given in three categories: Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Vibhushan. These awards are given for excellence in diverse fields such as art, social service, science, engineering, business, industry, medicine, literature, education, sports, and civil services.