Padma Award nominee list gets royal snub

‘‘Besides a thorough verification by the Special Branch of the Mumbai police, officials from the Central Government had also visited my house,’’ says the embarrassed Padma nominee. ‘‘But I was disappointed, when I found that my name is not there in the final list declared on Republic Day.’’

Here’s the irony: Prominent awardees from Mumbai — Strand Book Store owner T.N. Shanbagh, and actors Aamir Khan and Naseeruddin Shah — weren’t even recommended by the government.

Protocol Minister Ashok Chavan, the Cabinet member responsible for recommending the list for Padma Awards, is miffed over the nomination of such worthies. ‘‘We feel that if the Centre was keen (on such people), it should ask the state government to recommend specific names,’’ Chavan told The Indian Express.

So who did the Congress-led Democratic Front Government nominate? Noted social worker Mohan Dharia, eminent cardio-vascular and thoracic surgeon K.R. Shetty, veteran cardiologist B.K. Goyal and Industries Minister Patangrao Kadam are prominent among the 45 persons.

After quitting active politics, Dharia, who was also deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, had launched a statewide movement for conservation of water. Shetty and Goyal made their mark in cardiology, but the Centre did not consider any of these worthy enough.

Out of the 45 recommendations, only two persons — veteran journalist Balasaheb Jadhav and builder B.G. Shirke got the Padmashree, orthopaedic surgeon K.H. Sancheti and ghazal singer Jagjit Singh got the Padmabhushan.