The Indian Union government on Monday named six sportspersons and retired coach O.M. Nambiar for the prestigious Padma Shri award for 2021. Interestingly, no cricketer has been chosen for the accolade this year.
Nambiar, 89, is the famous coach of legendary woman athlete P.T. Usha. In 1985, Nambiar was honoured with the Dronacharya Award, the highest accolade for coaches.
Sudha Singh, 36, who holds the national record in 3,000 m steeplechase and gold medallist at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games was also among the winners, as was table tennis star Mouma Das, 36, who won multiple medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast in Australia.
P. Anitha (Padma Shri), Mouma Das (Padma Shri), Anshu Jamsenpa (Padma Shri), Madhavan Nambiar (Padma Shri), Sudha Hari Narayan Singh (Padma Shri), Virender Singh (Padma Shri), KY Venkatesh (Padma Shri) have been awarded the prestigious award in the sports category for the year 2021. Every year, the award winners are announced on the eve of Republic Day (January 25). The Padma Awards are felicitated by the President of India in the month of April or March.
For the year 2021, the Padma awards will be conferred by President Ram Nath Kovind in the ceremonial functions which will take place at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, President Kovind has approved the conferment of 119 Padma Awards.