Haryana’s star para archer Harvinder among 30 unsung heroes conferred with Padma Shri
Harvinder Singh, the star para archer from Haryana’s Kaithal, is among 30 unsung heroes conferred with the Padma Shri on Saturday on the eve of the 76th Republic Day.
Harvinder became the first Indian to win a gold medal at the Paralympic Games. He won one gold at the 2024 Paris Paralympic and one bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic. He is a motivational speaker on drug awareness.
The others among the 30 winners announced by the Central Government today are Jonas Masetti, a spiritual leader from Brazil, instrumental in popularising Vedanta; Neerja Bhatla, a cervical cancer crusader and head of gyne and obstetrics department at AIIMS-New Delhi; Bhim Singh Bhavesh, a dedicated social worker from Bhojpur working for the uplift of Musahar community, one of society’s most marginalised group for the past 22 years through his foundation Nayee Asha (Bihar).
The others in the list unveiled ahead of the full Padma Award list are as follows:
P Dhatchanamoorthy, instrumental in specialising in Thavil, a classical percussion instrument vital to South Indian music and culture with over five decades of experience. (Puducherry)
L Hangthing, Noklak’s fruit man, he is a farmer from Nolkak in Nagaland with over 30 years of expertise in cultivating non-native fruits (Nagaland)
Hugh and Colleen Gantzer, the OG travel bloggers. The husband and wife duo are recognised for their contribution to Indian travel journalism for over five decades. (Uttarakhand)
Jagdish Joshila, an author in Nimadi and Hindi from Koregaon, he founded the Nimadi prose literature and is the first Nimadi novelist (MP)
Bheru Singh Chauhan, a prolific Nirgun folk singer rooted in the traditional Malvi folk style since age 9 rendering verses of Sant Kabir, Gorakhnath and Dadu (MP)
Shaikha Sabah, a yoga practitioner from Kuwait who founded Daratma, Kuwait’s first licensed yoga studio.
Naren Gurung, versatile folk artist from Gangtok promoting Sikkimese Nepali folk music and dance traditions (Sikkim)
Hariman Sharma, apple farmer from Bilaspur who developed a low chilling apple variety which grows in low altitude at 1800 feet above sea level, a first of its kind innovation (HP)
Jumde Gamlin, dedicated to deaddiction in Arunachal Pradesh
Vilas Dangre, 70 year old visually impaired homeopath who treats the poor (Maharashtra)
Venkappa Sugatekar, Gondhali folk maestro from nomadic society from Karnataka
Nirmal Devi, oldest pioneer of Sujani embroidery from Bihar
Joynacharan Bathari, 84 year old senior most flag bearer pf Dimasa tribal art from Assam
Suresh Soni, founder of Sahyog Kushtha Yagna Trust working for the care of leprosy patients from Gujarat
Radha Bahin Bhatt, a leading gandhian from Uttarakhand
Pandi Ram Mandavi, 68 year old master instrument maker and wood carver from Gond Muria tribe has been bringing tribal melodies to life through his craft, from Chhattisgarh; Chaitram Pawar, conserved 400 hectares of forest helping implement a Joint Forest Management in the 1990s and personally planted 5000 trees from Maharashtra
Vijayalakshmi Deshmane, veteran cancer surgeon from Gulbarga in Karnataka
