The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award of the Republic of India. Instituted on 2January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service of a high order", without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex. The recipients receive a Sanad, a certificate signed by the President of India and a circular-shaped medallion with no monetary association. The recipients are announced every year on Republic Day (26January) and registered in The Gazette of Indiaa publication used for official government notices and released weekly by the Department of Publication, under the Ministry of Urban Development. The conferral of the award is not considered official without its publication in the Gazette. The name of recipient, whose award have been revoked or restored, both of which require the authority of the President, is archived and they are required to surrender their medal when their name is struck from the register; none of the conferments of Padma Bhushan during 1970–1979 have been revoked or restored. The recommendations are received from all the state and the union territory governments, as well as from Ministries of the Government of India, the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan awardees, the Institutes of Excellence, the Ministers, the Chief Ministers and the Governors of State, and the Members of Parliament including private individuals.
When instituted in 1954, the Padma Bhushan was classified as "Dusra Varg" (Class II) under the three-tier Padma Vibhushan awards, which were preceded by the Bharat Ratna in hierarchy. On 15January 1955, the Padma Vibhushan was reclassified into three different awards as the Padma Vibhushan, the Padma Bhushan and the Padma Shri. The criteria included "distinguished service of a high order in any field including service rendered by Government servants", but excluded those working with the public sector undertakings with the exception of doctors and scientists. The 1954 statutes did not allow posthumous awards; this was subsequently modified in the January 1955 statute. The design was also changed to the form that is currently in use; it portrays a circular-shaped toned bronze medallion in diameter and thick. The centrally placed pattern made of outer lines of a square of side is embossed with a knob carved within each of the outer angles of the pattern. A raised circular space of diameter is placed at the centre of the decoration. A centrally located lotus flower is embossed on the obverse side of the medal and the text "Padma" is placed above and the text "Bhushan" is placed below the lotus written in Devanagari script. The State Emblem of India is displayed in the centre of the reverse side, together with the national motto of India, "Satyameva Jayate" (Truth alone triumphs) in Devanagari script, which is inscribed on the lower edge. The rim, the edges and all embossing on either side is of standard gold with the text "Padma Bhushan" of gold gilt. The medal is suspended by a pink riband in width with a broad white stripe in the middle. It is ranked fifth in the order of precedence of wearing of medals and decorations of the Indian civilian and military awards.
As the result of the 6th general election held in March 1977, Morarji Desai was sworn in as the Prime Minister of India on 24March 1977 replacing the Indira Gandhi led government of the Indian National Congress. On 31July, the newly formed government retracted all the civilian awards including the Padma Bhushan deeming them "worthless and politicized". After the 7th general election of 1980 Gandhi was again sworn in as the Prime Minister and all civilian awards were reinstated on 25January 1980. Consequently, this award was not presented in 1978 and 1979.
A total of 205 awards were presented in the 1970s twenty-eight in 1970, followed by forty-one in 1971, fifty in 1972, seventeen in 1973, twenty-one in 1974, fifteen in 1975, sixteen in 1976 and seventeen in 1977. The Padma Bhushan in the 1970s was also conferred upon eight foreign recipients four from the United States, two from Italy, and one each from Belgium and the United Kingdom. Individuals from nine different fields were awarded, which includes forty-eight from literature and education, forty-three from civil services, thirty-four artists, twenty-six from science and engineering, twenty-one from social work, seventeen from medicine, twelve from trade and industry, three from public affairs, and one sportsperson. Novelist Khushwant Singh, who accepted the award in 1974 in the field of literature and education, returned it in 1984 as a notion of protest against the Operation Blue Star.
Recipients
+
+ Key
+ List of Padma Bhushan award recipients, showing the year, field, and state/country Year Image Laureates Field State1970 Arts West Bengal1970 Arts Maharashtra1970 Literature & Education West Bengal1970 Civil Service Andhra Pradesh1970 Literature & Education West Bengal1970 Literature & Education Tamil Nadu1970 Literature & Education Delhi1970 Public Affairs Haryana1970 Literature & Education Delhi1970 Literature & Education Andhra Pradesh1970 Social Work Maharashtra1970 Arts Tamil Nadu1970 Literature & Education Maharashtra1970 Science & Engineering Tamil Nadu1970 Literature & Education Andhra Pradesh1970 Public Affairs Madhya Pradesh1970 Medicine Uttar Pradesh1970 Arts West Bengal1970 Literature & Education West Bengal1970 Science & Engineering Tamil Nadu1970 Civil Service Andhra Pradesh1970 Social Work Maharashtra1970 Social Work Delhi1970 Literature & Education Andhra Pradesh1970 Arts Uttar Pradesh1970 Civil Service Maharashtra1970 Civil Service Delhi1970 Literature & Education Punjab1971 Social Work Tamil Nadu1971 Literature & Education Chandigarh1971 Social Work Rajasthan1971 Arts Gujarat1971 Civil Service West Bengal1971 Literature & Education Kerala1971 Trade & Industry West Bengal1971 Trade & Industry Maharashtra1971 Science & Engineering Karnataka1971 Trade & Industry Maharashtra1971 Arts Karnataka1971 Arts Tamil Nadu1971 Arts Tamil Nadu1971 Literature & Education Delhi1971 Social Work Delhi1971 Literature & Education Madhya Pradesh1971 Arts Punjab1971 Literature & Education Maharashtra1971 Arts Maharashtra1971 Arts Uttar Pradesh1971 Arts Kerala1971 Arts Maharashtra1971 Medicine Maharashtra1971 Trade & Industry Uttar Pradesh1971 Trade & Industry West Bengal1971 Medicine Madhya Pradesh1971 Medicine Bihar1971 Literature & Education Odisha1971 Trade & Industry Madhya Pradesh1971 Arts Tamil Nadu1971 Arts Maharashtra1971 Literature & Education Tamil Nadu1971 Medicine Tamil Nadu1971 Trade & Industry West Bengal1971 Pandurang Vasudeo SukhatmeScience & Engineering 1971 Arts Tamil Nadu1971 Social Work Maharashtra1971 Medicine Delhi1971 Literature & Education Uttar Pradesh1971 Civil Service Chandigarh1971 Civil Service Delhi1972 Civil Service Delhi1972 Social Work Maharashtra1972 Civil Service Delhi1972 Civil Service Karnataka1972 Social Work Maharashtra1972 Civil Service Delhi1972 Science & Engineering West Bengal1972 Literature & Education Chandigarh1972 Social Work Karnataka1972 Social Work Delhi1972 Civil Service Punjab1972 Civil Service Gujarat1972 Civil Service West Bengal1972 Civil Service Maharashtra1972 Civil Service Karnataka1972 Medicine Maharashtra1972 Science & Engineering Kerala1972 Civil Service Punjab1972 Civil Service Uttar Pradesh1972 Civil Service Tamil Nadu1972 Civil Service Punjab1972 Civil Service Punjab1972 Civil Service Maharashtra1972 Civil Service Delhi1972 Civil Service Karnataka1972 Arts Maharashtra1972 Science & Engineering Maharashtra1972 Literature & Education Maharashtra1972 Medicine Maharashtra1972 Civil Service Jammu & Kashmir1972 Trade & Industry Delhi1972 Science & Engineering Punjab1972 Literature & Education Karnataka1972 Science & Engineering Delhi1972 Science & Engineering Andhra Pradesh1972 Medicine West Bengal1972 Civil Service Madhya Pradesh1972 Civil Service Chandigarh1972 Medicine Maharashtra1972 Medicine Delhi1972 Civil Service Punjab1972 Civil Service Punjab1972 Civil Service Punjab1972 Arts Bihar1972 Arts Tamil Nadu1972 Civil Service 1972 Science & Engineering Tamil Nadu1972 Literature & Education Delhi1972 Science & Engineering Maharashtra1972 Trade & Industry Andhra Pradesh1973 Science & Engineering 1973 Arts Kerala1973 Social Work Maharashtra1973 Literature & Education Andhra Pradesh1973 Literature & Education Uttar Pradesh1973 Trade & Industry Tamil Nadu1973 Arts Delhi1973 Literature & Education Kerala1973 Social Work Rajasthan1973 Sports Gujarat1973 Civil Service West Bengal1973 Civil Service Karnataka1973 Arts Madhya Pradesh1973 Civil Service Uttar Pradesh1973 Social Work Andhra Pradesh1973 Science & Engineering Tamil Nadu1973 Literature & Education Kerala1974 Arts 1974 Literature & Education 1974 Medicine Uttar Pradesh1974 Science & Engineering Maharashtra1974 Arts West Bengal1974 Literature & Education Karnataka1974 Literature & Education Maharashtra1974 Arts West Bengal1974 Arts Maharashtra1974 Literature & Education Maharashtra1974 Science & Engineering Delhi1974 Arts Andhra Pradesh1974 Social Work Andaman & Nicobar Islands1974 Science & Engineering Tamil Nadu1974 Literature & Education Gujarat1974 Civil Service Maharashtra1974 Literature & Education West Bengal1974 Science & Engineering Uttar Pradesh1974 Literature & Education Punjab1974 Science & Engineering Karnataka1974 Medicine Tamil Nadu1975 Arts Uttar Pradesh1975 Science & Engineering 1975 Science & Engineering West Bengal1975 Science & Engineering Maharashtra1975 Literature & Education West Bengal1975 Science & Engineering Maharashtra1975 Medicine Maharashtra1975 Civil Service Delhi1975 Civil Service Tamil Nadu1975 Literature & Education Maharashtra1975 Literature & Education Bihar1975 Literature & Education Punjab1975 Trade & Industry Maharashtra1975 Civil Service Madhya Pradesh1975 Social Work Rajasthan1976 Civil Service Tamil Nadu1976 Literature & Education Maharashtra1976 Literature & Education Assam1976 Trade & Industry Maharashtra1976 Literature & Education Maharashtra1976 Social Work Andhra Pradesh1976 Arts Karnataka1976 Civil Service Delhi1976 Science & Engineering Punjab1976 Social Work Rajasthan1976 Science & Engineering Karnataka1976 Medicine Tamil Nadu1976 Literature & Education Andhra Pradesh1976 Civil Service West Bengal1976 Civil Service Delhi1976 Literature & Education 1977 Literature & Education Delhi1977 Public Affairs Chandigarh1977 Literature & Education 1977 Arts Madhya Pradesh1977 Social Work West Bengal1977 Civil Service Delhi1977 Literature & Education Uttar Pradesh1977 Literature & Education Delhi1977 Social Work Delhi1977 Arts Maharashtra1977 Arts Maharashtra1977 Medicine Tamil Nadu1977 Medicine Andhra Pradesh1977 Arts Uttar Pradesh1977 Social Work Delhi1977 Science & Engineering Karnataka1977 Literature & Education Tamil Nadu
Explanatory notes
Non-citizen recipients
Posthumous recipients
References
External links