Padma Shri Awards 2009
The Padma Shri awards are given by the Government of India generally to Indian citizens to recognize their distinguished contribution in various spheres of activity including the Arts, Education, Industry, Literature, Science, Sports, Social Service and Public Life. It is the fourth in the hierarchy of civilian awards after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Uptill the year 2008, 2059 people have been given the Padma Shri since its institution in 1954. The sports awards for the year 2009 have created a controversy as the Olympic medal winners who were short listed have been removed from the final list of awardees. This to my mind is gross injustice to the sportspersons – boxer Vijender Kumar and wrestler Sushil Kumar. In fact these two had created Olympic sporting history as far as India was concerned, by giving two bronze medals to India on the same day at the 2008 Beijing Olympics along with Abhinav Bindra’s shooting gold. We have never won anything apart fr...