Want to be an SR Rao? Just fill in Padma Awards forms by September 15

DO YOU know a civil servant can also apply for Padma Awards, in the category of “civil service (includes distinction/excellence in administration etc. by government servants)”? According to a recent notification issued by the ministry of home affairs (MHA) seeking nominations for Padma Awards for 2016, civil service is one of the 10 categories. And there has been no mention that a serving government officer…
can’t apply for the same, though the government has not awarded Padma awards to any serving bureaucrat for many years now.
Former commerce secretary and 1978 batch Gujarat cadre IAS SR Rao, now retired, received Padma Shri when he was a serving officer. Rao came into prominence in mid-1990s thanks to his post-plague interventions as the municipal commissioner of Surat. For the record, the Surat plague of 1994 killed 52 and forced a mass migration of over 3 lakh city residents.
The nominations for the Padma Awards, 2016 is now open and the last date for receipt of the nominations is September 15, 2015.
But the recommendations or nominations need to be sent to the home ministry in a prescribed proforma (for details click ‘Awards and Medals’ on home ministry’s website) along with a brief narrative citation of maximum 800 words.
The citation should include “the details of the distinctions, life time achievements in the field, works published in the indexed/reputed journals in the concerned field”, according to the notification. The work done for the welfare of society, social service work may also be highlighted in the citation, it further added. The details of the national or state level awards received earlier need to be highlighted.
Here is the illustrative list of 10 fields for which the Padma Awards will be conferred in 2016
1. Art (includes music, painting, sculpture, photography, cinema, theatre etc.)
2. Social work (includes social service, charitable service, contribution in community projects etc.)
3. Public affairs (includes law, public life, politics etc.)
4. Science and Engineering (includes space engineering, nuclear science, information technology, research and development in science and its allied subjects etc.)
5. Trade and Industry (includes banking, economic activities, management, promotion of tourism, business etc.)
6. Medicine (includes medical research, distinction/specialization in Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Sidhha, Allopathy, Naturopathy etc.)
7. Literature and Education (includes journalism, teaching, book composing, literature, poetry, promotion of education, promotion of literacy, education reforms etc.)
8. Civil Service (includes distinction/excellence in administration etc. by government servants)
9. Sports (including popular sports, athletics, adventure, mountaineering, promotion of sports, Yoga etc.)
10. Others (fields not covered above and may include propagation of Indian culture, protection of human rights, wild life protection/conservation etc.)