Vaccine makers Poonawalla, Krishna Ella among 128 Padma awardees this year

Vaccine maker Cyrus Poonawalla, founder of Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII); And Krishna Ella, chairman of Bharat Biotech, and co-vaccine maker Bharat Biotech, and his co-founder wife Suchitra Ella will be honored with the country’s third highest civilian award, the Padma Bhushan, for their contribution to driving the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in the country.

The President of India on Tuesday approved the conferment of 128 Padma Awards this year, naming Indian-origin heads of global tech companies including Tata Dawns Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Google’s Sundar Pichai as Padma Bhushan awardees. as included.

A total of 17 people will be honored with the Padma Bhushan award this year and five are from the field of trade and industry, including two from Bharat Biotech. Out of 128 Padma awards, 4 received Padma Vibhushan, 17 Padma Bhushan and 107 Padma Shri awards. All the 34 awardees are women and 10 are from the category of Foreigners, NRIs, PIOs, OCIs.

The award has been given to vaccine manufacturers in recognition of the important role played by their companies in expanding the COVID-19 vaccination program in the country. Both pharmaceutical firms – SII and Bharat Biotech – and their vaccines Covishield and Covaxin have led the vaccination campaign in the country, with the two vaccines available at the lowest possible cost in the world.

Indian-American business executives – 54-year-old Nadella and 49-year-old Pichai – have also been honored for their contribution to the technology sector. Having roots in India, the duo is also running several projects in the country and involved in several government programs.

India’s first Chief of Defense Staff General Bipin Rawat, who died along with his wife and 12 others in a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu last month, has been awarded the Padma Vibhushan. Kalyan Singh, the second highest civilian award after Bharat Ratna, will also be given posthumously.

Born in Jaipur and settled in Japan, Ryuko Hira, and owner of HMI Hotel Group, which runs a chain of hotels and resorts in Japan, was awarded the Padma Shri in the business and industry category.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier asked people to send Padma award nominations for those “who are doing extraordinary work at the grassroots level but are not much known.”

The Padma Awards—Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan—are among the highest civilian honors conferred by the Government of India on the eve of Republic Day after being recommended by the Padma Awards Committee. The committee, headed by the Cabinet Secretary, consists of the Union Home Secretary, Secretary to the President and other eminent persons as members. The awards, instituted in the year 1954, are announced every year on the occasion of Republic Day, except for brief interruptions during the years 1978 and 1979 and 1993 to 1997.

With the awards facing controversies for some time now, the government on its part is trying to bring more transparency in the award process and an interactive dashboard of all the award winners since the first award was given.