Lobbying delays announcement

NEW DELHI: Last-minute additions and deletions in the list of Padma awards nominees may have become the norm, but the announcement of the awards this year was held up till late on Thursday night as the ministry of home affairs (MHA) struggled to incorporate some eleventh-hour changes suggested by PMO.

Perhaps, for the first time in the history of the awards, which are usually announced on the Republic Day eve, the list was cleared by the president as late as 11.30 pm and the awardees announced after midnight. Incidentally, the delay was not the on part of Rashtrapati Bhavan, which received the final list only at 10.30 pm.

According to sources, MHA had forwarded the names of 100 nominees for Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan and Padma Shri around 7 pm to PMO for clearance. This is where the pulls and pressures allegedly came into play. Certain names are said to have been dropped to make way for some favoured ones.

The changes obviously meant that the entire process of getting the approval of the Padma awards committee, headed by the Union home secretary, had to be followed afresh.

Besides, the new awardees had to be intimated and their consent obtained, even as the dropped nominees were conveyed regrets with the hope that they would make it to the next year���s list.

The process obviously took some time. By the time the Union home secretary signed the revised list, both the prime minister and the president were busy with the banquet hosted by the latter at Rashtrapati Bhavan for Russian President Vladimir Putin. It was only after the banquet was over that the list reached the president.

Mr A P J Abdul Kalam is said to have immediately signed on the dotted line, but it was already 11.30 pm by then. What intrigues experts is that the Padma awards committee is constituted several months before the nominees are chosen, giving it enough time to weigh the proposals and applications for the civilian honour conferred for accomplishments in diverse fields. However, the lobbying by Padma aspirants invariably delays the final list till just before the Republic Day.

This year, the Padma awards committee sat down on January 22 to approve the final list. However, it was only at 7 pm on Thursday that the names were forwarded to the PMO. According to the procedure, the awards committee makes the final recommendations on awardees after receiving recommendations from state governments/UTs, central ministries and departments and institutions of excellence.

This has to be finally cleared by the president. Padma Vibhushan is given for exceptional and distinguished service in any field, Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of high order and Padma Shri for distinguished service.