In an innovative step, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called upon the people of India to select the Padma Award recipients this year. "India has many talented people, who are doing exceptional work at the grassroots. Often, we don’t see or hear much of them. Do you know such inspiring people? You can nominate them for the Peoples Padma. Nominations are open till 15th September," PM Modi informed in a recent tweet.
Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhusan, Padma Shri are amongst the highest civilian awards of the country. These awards were instituted in 1954 and since then the awards have been presented annually barring the brief period when the now defunct Janata Party was in power. These awards are announced on the eve of Republic Day every year and they recognise distinct services to society as well as to the nation in the field of art, literature, medicine, social work, sports, civil service and industry. Thus far, a committee constituted by the Union Home Ministry would nominate the awardees from a host of recommendations made by various influential people or organisations. It has been found that taking advantage of the selection procedure, many influential and rich persons received the award and rightful claim of those who worked selflessly for the betterment of the society were ignored. This is why often names chosen for awards invite controversy, diluting the very purpose of honouring the heroes.
As a matter of fact, the Morarji Desai government stopped the practice for this very reason after coming to power in 1977. A well-known story about the clumsy selection process is related to two Bollowood actors. An actor was lobbying for the award for an extended period of time and ultimately a very senior minister recommended his name to the then Union Home Minister, making it almost certain that the said actor would get the coveted award. At the same time, another Bollywood superstar invited members of a powerful family to the premier of his movie. As the theme of the movie was patriotic in nature, recommendations came from that family to reward the superstar with a Padma award. As a result, the actor who managed to get the recommendations from the minister did not get the award that year, losing it to one of his juniors in the film industry.
So, for quite some time, demands to cleanse the selection process have been getting louder. But the system has remained unchanged until this inclusive new idea to involve the people in the selection process came about. It may be mentioned here that the job of the people is not over by recommending a name. Along with the name, the proposer will have to note down the achievements of the person recommended within 800 words to substantiate the claim, making the recommendation process different from various popular choice awards. Beyond a doubt, this is a great initiative to honour truly deserving persons. Let us hope that this new process is kept transparent and is not muddled by lobbying and politics yet again.