The Padma Awards - are they any good

Padma awards is the recognition given to the concerned person in their respective field of work, for the exceptional and distinguished service given by the person to the country. The award includes three different types - Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. It is considered to be the highest national award by the government for the great service for the country. The recommendations are done by the State Goverment or Union Territory Administrations or the Central Administrations and the Institutions of excellence and depending on that the award is given by the goverment on the eve of republic day.The Padma Vibhushan is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service, the Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of a high order and the Padma Shri for distinguished service in any field.

Now the question now comes that is the award given is really judged right for the right person? I feel positive about the awards and right judgment by the highest authority of our country. Year after year many people are contributing for the development of our country by their incredible works related to different fields of work of arts,literature and many more fields. I feel proud when I found people like A.R.Rahman and Amir Khan have been awarded the Padma award for their far-fetched contribution in the field of arts or Bhimsen joshi for his inbound contribution in the field of music. So it is not that the awards have been blindly given by the government and the decision is not false. There may be differences of opinion regarding the awards as found in the case of Sant Singh Chatwal whose award has been not recognized by the common people of India as per his character who have been charged with bankruptcy with different banks. He has been awarded Padma Bhushan by the President Pratibha Patil on January 26th, 2010. Many demanded to strip the award from the sophisticated fraudster who skimmed banks in many countries and later filed bankruptcies. But it is really unbelievable that a person may not be fully attached with those false works and have not done a mere beneficence for the country for which he has been awarded one of the highest awards.

One has to accept that there are very few institutions on which the common man of India today has trust and faith. The Padma awards are precisely one of them. If this too gets mired in red tape, nepotism and bureaucracy, then that would probably be the worst conspiracy against our existing and future geniuses.

-Maitreyee Roy