NEW DELHI: In keeping with its practice of taking the Padma awards’ focus away from big cities and well-known names and to recognise hinterland talents in a wide spectrum of fields, the Modi govt picked this year’s awardees from 84 districts spread across 30 states and UTs. Ten districts figure on the list for the first time since Independence, officials noted.Among such “unsung heroes”, as officials described them, are Taga Ram Bheel, recognised for reviving Rajasthan’s fading folk instrument Algoza, and Meghalaya-based environmentalist Hally War.Former Indian tennis star Vijay Amritraj, based in the US, is among the six Padma Bhushan awardees under foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI.

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A maximum 15 winners are officially from Maharashtra, including the likes of actors Dharmendra and R Madhavan – one of the key characters in ‘Dhurandhar’, said to have been inspired by NSA Ajit Doval – who found their calling in the state, followed by 13 from Tamil Nadu and 11 each from West Bengal and UP. Eight each are from Karnataka and Kerala, including Vellappally Natesan, a functionary of SNDP – an outfit that has positioned itself as the vehicle of Izhavas, the single most numerically preponderant caste in Kerala – and a BJP ally in Tamil Nadu.Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Kerala are heading to assembly polls, though official sources were quick to point out that govt has annually tried to give a diverse representation regionally, selecting the awardees from 84 districts across the country.Former IPS officer K Vijay Kumar, associated with the killing of notorious sandalwood smuggler Veerappan, Armind Fernandez, who established Asia’s first human milk bank, and ex-Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati, hockey player Savita Punia are among the other Padma winners besides politicians Bhagat Singh Kosher and late V K Malhotra, both from BJP.Achuthanandhan, a vocal and popular former Kerala CM, and Soren join other veteran politicians from non-BJP backgrounds like Mulayam Singh Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan who got Padma recognition from this govt. Padma Shri awardees include former MHA functionary R V Mani, who had protested against a change of affidavit in the Ishrat Jehan encounter case. In his book, ‘Hindu Terror: Insider account of Ministry of Home Affairs 2006-2010’, Mani alleged he was pressured by the UPA govt to sign a second affidavit that fabricated a narrative of “Saffron Terror”.Officials said govt made extensive efforts to identify achievers from all corners, highlighting that over 39,000 nominations were received and evaluated through an exhaustive and rigorous process of multiple rounds of scrutiny and consultation with ministry, state administration and domain experts. Awardees included 48 super senior citizens (80 years and above) and many from traditionally deprived sections of society.