Mulayam Singh, Sudha Murthy and educationist Anand Kumar conferred with Padma awards

Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Late Mulayam Singh Yadav, and medical professional Dilip Mahalanabis, known globally for his work on Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS), were among those conferred the Padma Vibhushan award by President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday.

Author and philanthropist Sudha Murty, physicist Deepak Dhar, who is known for his long-standing research career in statistical physics, novelist S L Bhyrappa and Vedic scholar Tridandi Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji were given the Padma Bhushan at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

Yadav, who was also India's defence minister and long-time parliamentarian, and Mahalanabis, who returned from the US to serve in the 1971 Bangladesh war refugee camps, were given the honour posthumously.

Yadav's son, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, received the award on his behalf, while Mahalanabis' award was received by his nephew.

Music director M M Keeravaani, who bagged India's first Oscar for an original song for the 'RRR' song 'Naatu Naatu' and Bollywood actor Raveena Tandon were among those who received the Padma Shri.

Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president J P Nadda and several Union ministers and other guests were present at the function.

The President had approved the conferment of 106 Padma awards, including three duo cases (in a duo case, the award is counted as one), on the eve of this year's Republic Day.

A total of 53 awardees were given the honour on Wednesday -- three Padma Vibhushan, five Padma Bhushan and 45 Padma Shri.

The other distinguished personalities were given the awards on March 22.

Padma awards are conferred in three categories -- Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. India's top civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, has not been given to anyone since 2019.

The awards are given in various disciplines and fields of activities such as art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports and civil service among others.

Padma Vibhushan, the country's second-highest civilian award, is given for exceptional and distinguished service; Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of high order; and Padma Shri for distinguished service in any field.

Many of the awardees are unsung heroes who have been silently working for the betterment of society and people, and whom the Narendra Modi government has been honouring ever since it came to power in 2014, officials said.