Padma Awards 2026 announced: 131 honours, with spotlight on unsung achievers and public icons
India has announced the Padma Awards for 2026, approving 131 civilian honours across Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The list spans arts, public affairs, trade and industry, medicine, literature, science and sports, and includes women awardees, overseas Indians/foreign nationals and multiple posthumous recognitions. Alongside prominent names, the selection also highlights grassroots contributors described as ‘unsung heroes’.
New Delhi: The Union government on Sunday announced the Padma Awards for 2026, approving 131 civilian honours across the three categories—Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The awards, which are declared on the occasion of Republic Day, recognise “exceptional and distinguished service” and “distinguished service of high order” across a wide range of fields including arts, public affairs, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, science and engineering, sports and social work.
This year’s list includes 5 Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri awards. The selection also features 19 women awardees, six recipients from the Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI category, and 16 posthumous honours—signalling both breadth and diversity in the final roster.
Key names and categories
Among the Padma Vibhushan awardees are veteran actor Dharmendra Singh Deol (posthumous), former Kerala chief minister V S Achuthanandan (posthumous), noted violinist N Rajam, former Supreme Court judge K T Thomas, and writer P Narayanan.
The Padma Bhushan list includes personalities such as singer Alka Yagnik, actor Mammootty, industrialist Uday Kotak, tennis icon Vijay Amritraj, and advertising veteran Piyush Pandey (posthumous), among others.
Focus on grassroots work
In addition to well-known public figures, reporting around the announcement underlined a theme of recognising community-level contributors. NDTV said the list continues a focus on “ordinary Indians with extraordinary contributions”, including awardees working in healthcare, education, sanitation, sustainability, livelihood generation and cultural preservation.
As with previous years, the Padma awards will be conferred by the President of India at ceremonial functions held at Rashtrapati Bhavan, typically in March or April.