Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 26 : The Centre announced that Dr Armida Fernandes was being conferred with the Padma Shri award in 2026 for her distinguished contributions to the field of Medicine.
Padma Shri is the fourth-highest civilian award of the country.
Speaking to ANI, Fernandes expressed her happiness and praised her team at the NGO Sneha (Society for Nutrition, Education and Health Action) for their contribution, noting that the achievement was a result of collective efforts.
"I am very honoured to get this award. I worked for 50 years at BMC with Sion Hospital, in the slums of Mumbai, and now in Palliative Care. I'm blessed with very good teams from Sion, from my NGO SNEHA (Society for Nutrition, Education and Health Action), and from Palliative. Everybody worked together," said Fernandez.
Meanwhile, Kailash Chandra Pant, who was selected for the Padma Shri award in Literature and Education, said that the honour was a matter of pride not only for him but also for everyone working in those fields.
"This honour received in the fields of literature and education is not only a matter of great pride for me, but also for all those who are working in the field of education and those who are deeply involved in literature. As far as my literary work is concerned, it is mainly based on critical essays, and I have also written some independent works... In the field of education, I received the Nehru Literacy Award in Delhi from the hands of then President Abdul Kalam," Pant told ANI.
President Droupadi Murmu on Sunday approved the conferment of 131 Padma awards, including two duo cases counted as single awards, and Bollywood actor Dharmendra Singh Deol and former Kerala Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan as recipients of the Padma Vibhushan posthumously.
The list comprises five Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri awards, recognising distinguished service across a wide range of fields. 90 awardees are wome,n and the list includes 6 persons from the categories of foreigners, NRI, PIO, and OCI, and 16 posthumous awardees, according to a government statement.
The Padma Vibhushan awardees include actor Dharmendra Singh Deol (posthumous) for Art from Maharashtra; former Supreme Court judge KT Thomas for Public Affairs from Kerala; violin maestro N Rajam for Art from Uttar Pradesh; eminent Malyalam journalist P Narayanan for Literature and Education from Kerala; as well as veteran left leader and former Kerala CM Achuthanandan (posthumous) for Public Affairs.