Nominations for Padma Awards 2017

PADMA SHRI PADMA BHUSHAN PADMA VIBHUSHAN

Nominations for the Padma Awards, 2017 is presently open and the last date for receipt of the nominations for the Padma Awards 2017 is September 15, 2016.

The nominations/recommendations for the Padma Awards are being received online only on an electronic management system designed by MHA. This is available on the website:www.padmaawards.gov.in. No other mode of nomination/recommendation is accepted. Nominations received after September 15, 2016 will also not be considered.

History and Relevance
The Government of India instituted two civilian awards-Bharat Ratna & Padma Vibhushan in 1954. The latter had three classes namely Pahela Varg, Dusra Varg and Tisra Varg. These were subsequently renamed as Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri vide Presidential Notification issued on January 8, 1955.

Bharat Ratna
Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian award of the country. It is awarded in recognition of the exceptional service/performance of the highest order in any field of human endeavour. It is treated on a different footing from Padma Award. The recommendations for Bharat Ratna are made by the Prime Minister to the President of India. No formal recommendations for Bharat Ratna are necessary. The number of Bharat Ratna Awards is restricted to a maximum of three in a particular year. Government has conferred Bharat Ratna Award on 45 persons till date.

Padma Awards
Padma Awards, which were instituted in the year 1954, is announced every year on the occasion of Republic Day except for brief interruption(s) during the years 1978 and 1979 and 1993 to 1997.
The award is given in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.
•Padma Vibhushan for exceptional and distinguished service;
• Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of a high order; and
• Padma Shri for distinguished service.
All persons without distinction of race, occupation, position or sex are eligible for these awards. However, Government servants including those working with PSUs, except doctors and scientists, are not eligible for these Awards.
The award seeks to recognize works of distinction and is given for distinguished and exceptional achievements/service in all fields of activities/disciplines. An illustrative list of the fields is as under:
1. Art (includes Music, Painting, Sculpture, Photography, Cinema, Theatre etc.)
2. Social work (includes social service, charitable service, contribution in community projects etc.)
3. Public Affairs (includes Law, Public Life, Politics etc.)
4. Science & Engineering (includes Space Engineering, Nuclear Science, Information Technology, Research & Development in Science & its allied subjects etc.)
5. Trade & Industry (includes Banking, Economic Activities, Management, Promotion of Tourism, Business etc.)
6. Medicine (includes medical research, distinction/specialization in Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Sidhha, Allopathy, Naturopathy etc.)
7. Literature & Education (includes Journalism, Teaching, Book composing, Literature, Poetry, Promotion of education, Promotion of literacy, Education Reforms etc.)
8. Civil Service (includes distinction/excellence in administration etc. by Government Servants)
9. Sports (includes popular Sports, Athletics, Adventure, Mountaineering, promotion of sports, Yoga etc.)
10. Others(fields not covered above and may include propagation of Indian Culture, protection of Human Rights, Wild Life protection/conservation etc.)
The award is normally not conferred posthumously. However, in highly deserving cases, the Government could consider giving an award posthumously.
A higher category of Padma award can be conferred on a person only where a period of at least five years has elapsed since conferment of the earlier Padma award. However, in highly deserving cases, a relaxation can be made by the Awards Committee.
The awards are presented by the President of India usually in the month of March/April every year where the awardees are presented a Sanad (certificate) signed by the President and a medallion.
The recipients are also given a small replica of the medallion, which they can wear during any ceremonial/State functions etc., if the awardees so desire. The names of the awardees are published in the Gazette of India on the day of the presentation ceremony.
The total number of awards to be given in a year (excluding posthumous awards and to NRI/foreigners/OCIs) should not be more than 120.
The award does not amount to a title and cannot be used as a suffix or prefix to the awardees’ name.

Who decides
The Padma Awards are conferred on the recommendations made by the Padma Awards Committee, which is consitituted by the Prime Minister every year. The Padma Awards Committee is headed by the Cabinet Secretary and includes Home Secretary, Secretary to the President and four to six eminent persons as members. The recommendations of the committee are submitted to the Prime Minister and the President of India for approval.

Selection Criteria
It is the usual practice is to invite recommendations every year from 1st May to 15th
September from all State / UT Governments, Ministries/Departments of the Government of
India, Bharat Ratna and Padma Vibhushan awardees and Institutes of Excellence.
Recommendations received from them and also from other sources like Central/State
Ministers, Chief Ministers/Governors of State, Members of Parliament, as also private
individuals, bodies etc., are placed before the Padma Awards Committee.
The Padma Awards Committee is constituted by the Prime Minister every year. It is
headed by the Cabinet Secretary and includes Home Secretary, Secretary to the President and
four to six eminent persons as members.
While no rigid criteria or trenchant formula for selection is applied by the Padma
Awards Committee, it looks for life time achievement of an individual while making a
selection. There ought to be an element of public service in the achievements of the person to
be selected. The award is given for ‘special services’ and not merely for long service. It should
not be merely excellence in a particular field, but the criteria has to be excellence plus.
Persons selected for the awards are subjected to verification by the investigating
agencies of the Government with a view to ensuring that their character and antecedents are
above board.

The Padma Awards are conferred on the recommendations made by the Padma Awards

Instructions for online Recommendations/Nominations BYAUTHORITY/ CITIZEN
Home Page of the Padma award website contains two option for nomination, one is
“By Authority” and the other “By Citizen”.
(i) If as a citizen, you want to nominate self for award, then choose “By
Citizen” option and follow the step of registration.
(ii) If as an authority, you want to nominate others for award, then choose
option “By Authority” and follow the process of registration and
nomination.
Steps for filling online Nominations / Recommendations
BY AUTHORITY
1. In case of authority, please Click on ‘BY AUTHORITY’.
2. Select from the list of the authorities and proceed to registration/login
process.
3. Union Cabinet Minister/MoS(IC)/MoS/Ministries/Departments of
Government of India and Governors/Chief Ministers/States/Union
Territories can proceed through their designated User ID and Password,
which have been provided through email by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
4. The other Authorities can register themselves through the following steps: -
- Click on ‘Register’ button and then fill up Name, Gender, Date of Birth,
email ID, Mobile No. and other columns.
- Choose your own login ID and password (which may be carefully noted as it
will be required for making recommendation every time). Press register
button.
- Site will redirect to the login page.
- Once you enter your login Id and password and pressed ‘submit’, it will
redirect to the next page. In the meanwhile, you will receive an OTP(one
time password) on your mobile. (OTP remains for 8 hours)
- Fill ‘OTP’ received on your registered mobile no.
- After entering OTP – home screen will appear which contains two option
‘Existing Nomination’ and ‘New Nomination’.
- In case, name already exist in the ‘Existing Nomination’ list and you want to
recommend the same, select the said nominee and upload your
recommendation letter/documents (in PDF format). This will complete the
nomination process for the existing nominee.
- In case it is a fresh nomination, please click on ‘New Nomination’.
- It will lead you to the next page.
- Pleas fill in all the details about the nominee in the prescribed format.
- After all the details have been filled in, click ‘Next’ which will lead to the
next page i.e. ‘Citation’.
- The citation should not be more than 800 words. The other fields on this
page should not be more than 250 words.
- It may be noted that this page will not accept any of these Special Characters
namely { } & ` ~ | ^ # ! [ ] \ < > $ % “ ”
- After all details have been filled in, please press ‘Save & Next’.
- Please upload the recent photograph of the nominee and recommendation
letter.
- You can save it as draft for any further modification.
- Please recheck the entries and then click ‘Final Submit’. This will be the
‘Final Submission’ and thereafter entries cannot be modified.
5. This completes the nomination process.
BY CITIZEN
1. In case of citizen, please Click on ‘BY CITIZEN’ button.
- Click ‘Register’ button and fill up Name, Gender, Aadhar No., Date of Birth,
Mobile No., email ID and other columns.
- Choose your own login ID and password (which may be carefully noted as it
will be required by you for making your nomination and uploading
recommendation letters). Press register button.
- Site will redirect to the login page.
- Once you enter your login Id and password and pressed ‘submit’, it will
redirect to the next page. In the meanwhile, you will receive an OTP (onetime
password) on your mobile. (OTP remains for 8 hours)
- Please fill in the OTP, which will lead you to the menu page.
- Menu page contains five buttons
(i) Nomination form
(ii) Edit/Modify Nomination
(iii) Upload New recommendation letters
(iv) Print/ Preview Nomination
(v) Change Password
- For self nomination, please fill all your details in the prescribed format.
- After all the details have been filled in, click ‘Next’ which will lead to the
next page of citation.
- The citation should not be more than 800 words. The other fields on this
page should not be more than 250 words.
- It may be noted that this page will not accept any of these Special Characters
namely { } & ` ~ | ^ # ! [ ] \ < > $ % “ ”
- After all details have been filled in, please press ‘Save & Next’.
- Please upload your recent photograph and recommendation letters, if any.
- You can save it as draft for any modification.
- Please recheck the entries and then click ‘Submit’. This will be your ‘Final
Submission’ and there after entries cannot be modified.
2. This completes the nomination process.
Note:- (i) ‘Foreigners/NRI/PIO’ can register without Aadhar No.
(ii) Please do not make nominations of the same person more than
once.
1. Letters to Secretaries of all Ministries/Departments of Govt. of India
2. Letters to Chief Secretaries/Administrators of all States/UTs government
3. Letters to all Institute of excellence
4. Letters to all Bharat Ratna and Padma Vibhushan awardees
For any query please call or mail on:
Section Officer(Public)
Ministry of Home Affairs
Email ID: sopub@nic.in
Contact no: 011-23092421


REGISTRATION

Name *

Gender *		Aadhaar No *

Date of Birth *		Mobile No *

Email ID *		Login ID *

Password *

Confirm Password *		Enter Captcha *

For further details click ‘Awards and Medals’ on the Union Home Ministry’s website: www.mha.nic.in

The statutes and rules relating to these awards are available on the Union Home Ministry’s website with the link:
http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/PadmaAwards2017.pdf

Padma Awards 2017
 The process of receiving the recommendations/nominations for the Padma
Awards 2017 started w.e.f 1st May, 2016. Last date for receipt of the
nominations for the Padma Awards, 2017 is 15th September 2016.
 Nominations received after 15th September 2016 will not be considered.
 Nominations/Recommendations for the Padma Awards 2017 are to be sent
only online on the platform (www.padmaawards.gov.in). No other mode of
nominations/recommendations will be accepted.
 For sending the Nominations/Recommendations, please visit our portal
www.padmaawards.gov.in
 The steps for sending Nominations/Recommendations, in brief, are as
under:-
Instructions for online Recommendations/Nominations BYAUTHORITY/ CITIZEN
Home Page of the Padma award website contains two option for nomination, one is
“By Authority” and the other “By Citizen”.
(i) If as a citizen, you want to nominate self for award, then choose “By
Citizen” option and follow the step of registration.
(ii) If as an authority, you want to nominate others for award, then choose
option “By Authority” and follow the process of registration and
nomination.

Steps for filling online Nominations / Recommendations
BY AUTHORITY
1. In case of authority, please Click on ‘BY AUTHORITY’.
2. Select from the list of the authorities and proceed to registration/login
process.
3. Union Cabinet Minister/MoS(IC)/MoS/Ministries/Departments of
Government of India and Governors/Chief Ministers/States/Union
Territories can proceed through their designated User ID and Password,
which have been provided through email by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
4. The other Authorities can register themselves through the following steps: -
- Click on ‘Register’ button and then fill up Name, Gender, Date of Birth,
email ID, Mobile No. and other columns.
- Choose your own login ID and password (which may be carefully noted as it
will be required for making recommendation every time). Press register
button.
- Site will redirect to the login page.
- Once you enter your login Id and password and pressed ‘submit’, it will
redirect to the next page. In the meanwhile, you will receive an OTP(one
time password) on your mobile. (OTP remains for 8 hours)
- Fill ‘OTP’ received on your registered mobile no.
- After entering OTP – home screen will appear which contains two option
‘Existing Nomination’ and ‘New Nomination’.
- In case, name already exist in the ‘Existing Nomination’ list and you want to
recommend the same, select the said nominee and upload your
recommendation letter/documents (in PDF format). This will complete the
nomination process for the existing nominee.
- In case it is a fresh nomination, please click on ‘New Nomination’.
- It will lead you to the next page.
- Pleas fill in all the details about the nominee in the prescribed format.
- After all the details have been filled in, click ‘Next’ which will lead to the
next page i.e. ‘Citation’.
- The citation should not be more than 800 words. The other fields on this
page should not be more than 250 words.
- It may be noted that this page will not accept any of these Special Characters
namely { } & ` ~ | ^ # ! [ ] \ < > $ % “ ”
- After all details have been filled in, please press ‘Save & Next’.
- Please upload the recent photograph of the nominee and recommendation
letter.
- You can save it as draft for any further modification.
- Please recheck the entries and then click ‘Final Submit’. This will be the
‘Final Submission’ and thereafter entries cannot be modified.
5. This completes the nomination process.
BY CITIZEN
1. In case of citizen, please Click on ‘BY CITIZEN’ button.
- Click ‘Register’ button and fill up Name, Gender, Aadhar No., Date of Birth,
Mobile No., email ID and other columns.
- Choose your own login ID and password (which may be carefully noted as it
will be required by you for making your nomination and uploading
recommendation letters). Press register button.
- Site will redirect to the login page.
- Once you enter your login Id and password and pressed ‘submit’, it will
redirect to the next page. In the meanwhile, you will receive an OTP (onetime
password) on your mobile. (OTP remains for 8 hours)
- Please fill in the OTP, which will lead you to the menu page.
- Menu page contains five buttons
(i) Nomination form
(ii) Edit/Modify Nomination
(iii) Upload New recommendation letters
(iv) Print/ Preview Nomination
(v) Change Password
- For self nomination, please fill all your details in the prescribed format.
- After all the details have been filled in, click ‘Next’ which will lead to the
next page of citation.
- The citation should not be more than 800 words. The other fields on this
page should not be more than 250 words.
- It may be noted that this page will not accept any of these Special Characters
namely { } & ` ~ | ^ # ! [ ] \ < > $ % “ ”
- After all details have been filled in, please press ‘Save & Next’.
- Please upload your recent photograph and recommendation letters, if any.
- You can save it as draft for any modification.
- Please recheck the entries and then click ‘Submit’. This will be your ‘Final
Submission’ and there after entries cannot be modified.
2. This completes the nomination process.
Note:- (i) ‘Foreigners/NRI/PIO’ can register without Aadhar No.
(ii) Please do not make nominations of the same person more than
once.