By Vivek Prabhakar Singh
New Delhi [India], January 25 : After being conferred with the Padma Shri 2026, Para Athlete Praveen Kumar said about getting a lot of love from the nation due to the sport.
Praveen Kumar added that this prestigious award will motivate him to perform better in the upcoming games and clinch a gold medal for the nation.
"I am getting a lot of love from the nation due to sports. This motivates me to perform better in the upcoming games and clinch a gold medal for the nation," he told ANI.
Last year, Para Athlete Praveen was also felicitated with the prestigious Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. He also won a gold medal in the Men's High Jump T64 at the Paralympics 2024.
For the year 2026, the President has approved conferment of 131 Padma Awards, including two duo cases (in a duo case, the Award is counted as one). The list comprises five Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri Awards.
Nineteen of the awardees are women, while the list also includes six persons from the categories of Foreign Nationals, Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs), along with 16 awardees honoured posthumously.
These awards are conferred by the President of India at ceremonial functions held at Rashtrapati Bhawan, usually around March and April each year.
The Padma Awards are among the highest civilian honours of the country and are conferred in three categories -- Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. Padma Vibhushan is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service, Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of a high order, and Padma Shri for distinguished service in any field.
The awards are given across a wide range of disciplines, including art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, and civil service. The Padma Awards are presented by the President of India at ceremonial functions held every year at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
Full list of Padma Awards 2026 for sports persons:
Padma Bhushan - Vijay Amritraj.
Padma Shree - Baldev Singh, Bhagwandas Raikwar, K Pajanivel, Praveen Kumar, Rohit Sharma, Harmanpreet Kaur, Savita Punia, Vladimer Mestvirishvili.