Padma Awards, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri are given for exceptional and distinguished service in any field including service rendered by Government servants.
On the eve of 69th Republic Day, the Government of India announced the 89 Padma awardees. The 2018 Padma Awards list includes 3 Padma Vibhushan, 9 Padma Bhushan and 73 Padma Shri Awardees. 14 awardees are women, 16 awardees are from the category of foreigners, NRIs, PIOs while 3 are posthumous awardees. Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan are the second and third highest civilian awards of the country respectively.
The Padma Awards is the highest civilian award bestowed for distinguished service in various disciplines such as art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc.
List of Padma Awards 2018
Padma Vibhushan
| Sl. No | Name | Field | State |
| 1. | Shri Illaiyaraja | Art-Music | Tamil Nadu |
| 2. | Shri Ghulam Mustafa Khan | Art-Music | Maharashtra |
| 3. | Shri Parameswaran Parameswaran | Literature and Education | Kerala |
Padma Bhushan
| Sl. No | Name | Field | State |
| 4. | Shri Pankaj Advani | Sports- Billiards/Snooker | Karnataka |
| 5. | Shri Philipose Mar Chrysostom | Others-Spiritualism | Kerala |
| 6. | Shri Mahendra Singh Dhoni | Sports-Cricket | Jharkhand |
| 7. | Shri Alexander Kadakin (Foreigner/Posthumous) | Public Affairs | Russia |
| 8. | Shri Ramachandran Nagaswamy | Others-Archaeology | Tamil Nadu |
| 9. | Shri Ved Prakash Nanda (OCI) | Literature and Education | USA |
| 10. | Shri Laxman Pai | Art-Painting | Goa |
| 11. | Shri Arvind Parikh | Art-Music | Maharashtra |
| 12. | Ms. Sharda Sinha | Art-Music | Bihar |
Padma Shri
| No | Name | Field | State |
| 1 | Abhay Bang (Duo) | Medicine | Maharashtra |
| 2 | Rani Bang (Duo) | Medicine | Maharashtra |
| 3 | Damodar Ganesh Bapat | Social Work | Chhattisgarh |
| 4 | Prafulla Govinda Baruah | Literature and Education-Journalism | Assam |
| 5 | Mohan Swaroop Bhatia | Art-Folk Music | Uttar Pradesh |
| 6 | Sudhanshu Biswas | Social Work | West Bengal |
| 7 | Saikhom Mirabai Chanu | Sports-Weightlifting | Manipur |
| 8 | Pandit Shyamlal Chaturvedi | Literature and Education-Journalism | Chhattisgarh |
| 9 | Jose Ma Joey Concepcion III (Foreigner) | Trade & Industry | Philippines |
| 10 | Langpoklakpam Subadani Devi | Art-Weaving | Manipur |
| 11 | Somdev Devvarman | Sports-Tennis | Tripura |
| 12 | Yeshi Dhoden | Medicine | Himachal Pradesh |
| 13 | Arup Kumar Dutta | Literature and Education | Assam |
| 14 | Doddarange Gowda | Art-Lyrics | Karnataka |
| 15 | Arvind Gupta | Literature and Education | Maharashtra |
| 16 | Digamber Hansda | Literature and Education | Jharkhand |
| 17 | Ramli Bin Ibrahim (Foreigner) | Art-Dance | Malaysia |
| 18 | Anwar Jalalpuri (Posthumous) | Literature and Education | Uttar Pradesh |
| 19 | Piyong Temjen Jamir | Literature and Education | Nagaland |
| 20 | Sitavva Joddati | Social Work | Karnataka |
| 21 | Malti Joshi | Literature and Education | MP |
| 22 | Manoj Joshi | Art-Acting | Maharashtra |
| 23 | Rameshwarlal Kabra | Trade & Industry | Maharashtra |
| 24 | Pran Kishore Kaul | Art | J&K |
| 25 | Bounlap Keokangna(Foreigner) | Others-Architecture | Laos |
| 26 | Vijay Kichlu | Art-Music | West Bengal |
| 27 | Tommy Koh(Foreigner) | Public Affairs | Singapore |
| 28 | Lakshmikutty | Medicine-Traditional | Kerala |
| 29 | Joyshree Goswami Mahanta | Literature and Education | Assam |
| 30 | Narayan Das Maharaj | Others-Spiritualism | Rajasthan |
| 31 | Pravakara Maharana | Art-Sculpture | Odisha |
| 32 | Hun Many (Foreigner) | Public Affairs | Cambodia |
| 33 | Nouf Marwaai(Foreigner) | Others- Yoga | Saudi Arabia |
| 34 | Zaverilal Mehta | Literature and Education-Journalism | Gujarat |
| 35 | Krishna Bihari Mishra | Literature and Education | West Bengal |
| 36 | Sisir Purushottam Misra | Art-Cinema | Maharashtra |
| 37 | Subhasini Mistry | Social Work | West Bengal |
| 38 | Somdet Phra Maha Muniwong (Foreigner) | Others-Spiritualism | Thailand |
| 39 | Keshav Rao Musalgaonkar | Literature and Education | MP |
| 40 | Dr Thant Myint – U(Foreigner) | Public Affairs | Myanmar |
| 41 | V Nanammal | Others-Yoga | Tamil Nadu |
| 42 | Sulagitti Narasamma | Social Work | Karnataka |
| 43 | Vijayalakshmi Navaneethakrishnan | Art-Folk Music | Tamil Nadu |
| 44 | I Nyoman Nuarta (Foreigner) | Art- Sculpture | Indonesia |
| 45 | Malai Haji Abdullah Bin Malai Haji Othman(Foreigner) | Social Work | Brunei |
| 46 | Gobaradhan Panika | Art-Weaving | Odisha |
| 47 | Bhabani Charan Pattanaik | Public Affairs | Odisha |
| 48 | Murlikant Petkar | Sports-Swimming | Maharashtra |
| 49 | Habibullo Rajabov(Foreigner) | Literature and Education | Tajikistan |
| 50 | M R Rajagopal | Medicine-Palliative care | Kerala |
| 51 | |||
| 52 | Sampat Ramteke(Posthumous) | Social Work | Maharashtra |
| 53 | Chandra Sekhar Rath | Odisha | |
| 54 | S S Rathore | Civil Service | Gujarat |
| 55 | Amitava Roy | Science and Engineering | West Bengal |
| 56 | Sanduk Ruit (Foreigner) | Medicine- Ophthalmology | Nepal |
| 57 | R Sathyanarayana | Art-Music | Karnataka |
| 58 | Pankaj M Shah | Medicine- Ophthalmology | Gujarat |
| 59 | Bhajju Shyam | Art-Painting | MP |
| 60 | Maharao Raghuveer Singh | Literature and Education | Rajasthan |
| 61 | Kidambi Srikanth | Sports-Badminton | Andhra Pradesh |
| 62 | Ibrahim Sutar | Art-Music | Karnataka |
| 63 | Siddeshwara Swamiji | Others-Spiritualism | Karnataka |
| 64 | Lentina Ao Thakkar | Social Work | Nagaland |
| 65 | Vikram Chandra Thakur | Science and Engineering | Uttarakhand |
| 66 | Rudrapatnam Narayanaswamy Tharanathan (Duo) | Art-Music | Karnataka |
| 67 | Rudrapatnam Narayanaswamy Thyagarajan (Duo) | Art-Music | Karnataka |
| 68 | Nguyen Tien Thien (Foreigner) | Others-Spiritualism | Vietnam |
| 69 | Bhagirath Prasad Tripathi | Literature and Education | UP |
| 70 | Rajagopalan Vasudevan | Science and Engineering | Bihar |
| 71 | Panatawane Gangadhar Vithobaji | Literature and Education | Maharashtra |
| 72 | Romulus Whitaker | Others-Wildlife Conservation | Tamil Nadu |
| 73 | Baba Yogendra | Art | Madhya Pradesh |
| 74 | A Zakia | Literature and Education | Mizoram |
About Padma Awards
The Padma Awards are among the highest civilian awards of India and are conferred in three categories– Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri.
The awards are conferred in various fields such as art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc.
Padma Vibhushan is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service, Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of a high order, and Padma Shri for distinguished service in any field.
The Padma Awards are announced each year on the occasion of India’s Republic Day and are conferred every year by the President of India at ceremonial functions held at Rashtrapati Bhawan between March and April.
Who Decides?
All nominations received for Padma Awards are placed before the Padma Awards Committee, which is constituted 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.