JOIN US125-year-old yoga expert, 91-year-old social worker among Padma Shri winners
A 125-year-old yoga practitioner in Kashi, a 91-year-old woman who organised 'Cloth Bank' for Kutch flood victims, an 82-year-old orthopaedic surgeon fighting against polio and a 33-year-old martial arts from Kashmir's Bandipora are among a clutch of 'unsung and unique heroes' who were chosen for Padma Shri on the eve of Republic Day.
A total of 128 Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri awards were announced on Tuesday night. Of this, 108 were Padma Shri awards.
Sivananda, who the government says is a 125-year-old from Uttar Pradesh, is perhaps the oldest Padma award winner in the history of the country and is described as 'Yog Sevak', who continues to serve all around him, despite his humble origins. He has been practising and teaching yoga at Kashi's ghats for over three decades.
The second centenarian in the Padma Shri list is Shakuntala Choudhary from Assam's Kamrup. Known as Shankuntala Baideo, the 102-year-old has been "silently promoting the value of service for the last seven decades". A follower of Mahatma Gandhi and Vinoba Bhave, she founded Gram Seva Kendras across north-east and works for villagers through Stree Shakti Jagaran movement.
If the yoga expert is the oldest in the list, martial arts teacher Faisal Ali Dar at 33 is the youngest among "unsung heroes". The "Kashmir's Karate Kid" from Bandipora established a Sports Academy for martial arts and trained around 4,000 students so far with an aim to empower the youth in the "sensitive, militancy-hit regions" with opportunities and dreams. His achievement is reflected in the medals won by his students in global Kickboxing championships, the government says.
Prabhaben Shah (91) was chosen for the national honour as she dedicated her life for social work, conducting awareness camps, organised 'Vastra Bank' for Kutch flood victims and started canteen for patients and economically weaker people in hospitals.
Polio warrior Sunkara Venkata Adinarayana Rao, who hails from Andhra Pradesh's Visakhapatnam, is a veteran Orthopaedic Surgeon who has performed over one lakh polio surgeries, and treated more than 20 lakh patients with polio and cerebral palsy for free or nominal fees. For his work, including organising 900 camps across the country, he was chosen for the award.
Moti Lal Madan, an 82-year-old veterinarian and Biotechnologist from Haryana's Karnal who led a team to perform world's first successful Invitro fertilised (IVF) of a buffalo leading to the birth of a calf, Pratham, was also in the list. He served as Director of National Dairy Research Institute in Karnal and pioneered research in reproductive endocrinology, embryo biotechnology, IVF and cloning.
The list also included 52-year-old Gamit Ramilaben Raysingbhai from Gujarat. A tribal social worker from Tapi, her dedicated efforts led to the transformation of nine villages to open defecation-free villages. She also created more than 300 sanitary units and held awareness events on open defecation, sickle cell in the tribal belt.
A 66-year-old wood carver from Ladakh, Tsering Namgyal was recognised for four decades of contribution in producing Ladakhi wooden crafts for monasteries. He is known for creating the Jugskhang statue & scripture cases at the monasteries in Leh.
Darshanam Mogilaiah, a tribal Telugu Folk Singer and Kinnera player from Nagarkurnool in Telangana, has been keeping his family legacy alive and has dedicated over 50 years to conserving it. Popular for singing ballads and the only person to master 12 steps on the instrument 'Kinnera', the new Padma award winner's life is already a part of social studies textbooks in Telangana.
Authoring 19 books and 100 songs in Karbi to keep alive the dying dialect, another winner Dhaneswar Engti (66) had earlier served as Joint Secretary of Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council.
Durga Bai Vyam (50) from Madhya Pradesh is a traditional Gond artist and illustrator who learnt Digna art at the age of six years and has painted using Gond tribe life as theme.
A veteran Rai folk art from Bundelkhand, 91-year-old Ram Sahay Panday has been in the art field for over 60 years. He founded the Ram Sahay Panday dance group to promote and preserve the Rai Art of the extinct Bediya tribe and performed on more than 100 stages in 18 countries.
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