List of Padma Bhushan award recipients (2000–2009)

The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award of the Republic of India. Instituted on 2 January 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 (26 January) and registered in The Gazette of India—a 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 The names of recipients whose awards have been revoked or restored, both of which processes require the authority of the president, are archived and they are required to surrender their medal when their name is struck from the register; none of the conferments of Padma Bhushan during 2000–2009 have been revoked or restored.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 15 January 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

1+34 inches (44 mm) in diameter and18 inch (3.2 mm) thick. The centrally placed pattern made of outer lines of a square of1+316 inches (30 mm) side is embossed with a knob carved within each of the outer angles of the pattern. A raised circular space of diameter1+116 inches (27 mm) 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 riband1+14 inches (32 mm) 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.

A total of 291 awards were presented in the 2000s – twenty awards were presented in 2000, followed by thirty-two in 2001, twenty-five in 2002, thirty-two in 2003, nineteen in 2004, thirty in 2005, thirty-seven in 2006, thirty-two in 2007, thirty-five in 2008, and thirty-one in 2009. The Padma Bhushan in the 2000s was also conferred upon 37 foreign recipients – eighteen from the United States, five each from Russia and the United Kingdom, three from Japan, two from France, and one each from China, the Czech Republic, Germany, and South Africa. Individuals from ten different fields were awarded, which includes sixty-nine artists, sixty from literature and education, forty-three from science and engineering, twenty-seven from trade and industry, twenty-six from medicine, twenty-two from public affairs, eighteen from social work, twelve from civil services, ten from other fields, and four sportspersons.

In 2003, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) volunteer Dattopant Thengadi refused to accept the award until RSS founder K. B. Hedgewar RSS ideologue M. S. Golwalkar had been offered the Bharat Ratna. Historian Romila Thapar, who had earlier refused the award in 1992, did so again in 2005. In a letter she wrote to the then President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, she mentioned that she had refused the award when the Ministry of Human Resource Development contacted her. However, she stated she was surprised to see her name in the list of awardees. Civil servant S. R. Sankaran also refused to accept the award in 2005 without citing any reason.

Recipients

Close-up of Wahiduddin Khan.
Wahiduddin Khan (awarded in 2000) is an Islamic scholar and peace activist. He founded the Centre for Peace and Spirituality in 2001.
An image of L. Subramaniam.
L. Subramaniam (awarded in 2001) is considered the first among Indians to introduce the concept of Jugalbandi between Hindustani classical and Carnatic music.
An image of Yamini Krishnamurthy.
Yamini Krishnamurthy (awarded in 2001) is an Indian classica dancer of Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi style. She is also the recipient of Padma Vibhushan and Padma Shri.
Close up of Raj Reddy.
Raj Reddy (awarded in 2001) is an Indian-American computer scientist and is the recipient of the Turing Award (1994) for his work in the field of Artificial Intelligence and computer science.
A man speaking in a conference with hand gestures.
Naresh Trehan (awarded in 2001) is a cardiovascular-cardiothoracic surgeon and the founder of Medanta Institute.
Zakir Hussain playing tabla.
Zakir Hussain (awarded in 2002) is a tabla player in Hindustani classical music. He is also the recipient of Padma Shri, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and the National Heritage Fellowship given by the United States.
An image of Mario Miranda
Mario Miranda (awarded in 2002) was a cartoonist and painter.
An image of Sitakant Mahapatra.
Sitakant Mahapatra (awarded in 2003) is a poet, literary critic, and ex-IAS officer. He is also the recipient of the Jnanpith Award, the Sahitya Akademi Award, and the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship.
An image of Padma Subramanyam.
Padma Subramanyam (awarded in 2003) is a Bharatanatyam dancer and has also received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1983) and is elected Fellow of Sangeet Natak Akademi for her contribution to Indian dance.
An image of Govindarajan Padmanaban.
A recipient of the Padma Shri and Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, Govindarajan Padmanaban (awarded in 2003) is a biochemist, biotechnologist and former director of Indian Institute of Science.
An image of Sardara Singh Johl.
Sardara Singh Johl (awarded in 2004) is an agricultural economist and chancellor of Central University of Punjab. He also served as consultant to Food and Agriculture Organization, World Bank and United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia.
An image of Kiran Shaw.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (awarded in 2005) is the chairperson of Biocon and Indian Institute of Management Bangalore. She has frequently appeared in Forbes list of most powerful women.
An image of Madhav Gadgil.
Madhav Gadgil (awarded in 2006) is an ecologist academic, writer, and the founder of the research forum, Centre for Ecological Sciences.
An image of Azim Premji.
Often called as "the czar of the Indian IT Industry", Azim Premji (awarded in 2006) is the chairperson of Wipro Limited.
An image of Devaki Jain.
Devaki Jain (awarded in 2006) is an Indian economist and writer, who has worked mainly in the field of feminist economics. She has written several books and papers on gender rights, development and feminist reflections.
An image of Kavalam Narayana Panicker
Kavalam Narayana Panicker (awarded in 2007) has written 26 Malayalam plays and is a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and the fellowship of the Sangeet Natak Akademi.
An image of Vilayanur S. Ramachandran
Once described as "the Marco Polo of neuroscience", the Neuroscientist Vilayanur S. Ramachandran (awarded in 2007) is best known for developing a therapy for Phantom limb pain.
An image of Kaushik Basu
Kaushik Basu (awarded in 2008) is the former Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of the World Bank. He also served as the Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India.
An image of S. R. Srinivasa Varadhan
S. R. Srinivasa Varadhan (awarded in 2008) is an Abel Prize-winner mathematician primarily known for his fundamental contributions to probability theory.
An image of Dhananjayans
The Bharatanatyam exponents Shanta Dhananjayan (left) and Vannadil Pudiyaveettil Dhananjayan (right), better known as "Dhananjayans" (awarded in 2009), are founder of "Bharata Kalanjali", a dance institute located at Chennai.
Award recipients by year
YearNumber of recipients
2000
20
2001
32
2002
25
2003
32
2004
19
2005
28
2006
37
2007
32
2008
35
2009
31
Award recipients by field
FieldNumber of recipients
Arts
69
Civil Service
12
Literature & Education
60
Medicine
26
Others
10
Public Affairs
22
Science & Engineering
43
Social Work
18
Sports
4
Trade & Industry
27

Explanatory notes

Non-citizen recipients
Posthumous recipients

References

Uses material from the Wikipedia article List of Padma Bhushan award recipients (2000–2009), released under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.