The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service of a high order...without distinction of race, occupation, position or sex." The award criteria include "service in any field including service rendered by Government servants" including doctors and scientists, but exclude those working with the public sector undertakings. As of 2020, the award has been bestowed on 1270 individuals, including twenty-four posthumous and ninety-seven non-citizen recipients.
Brihaspati Dev Triguna (1920–2013) was a Vaidya or Ayurveda practitioner and an expert in Pulse diagnosis . He completed his formal ayurvedic studies under the guidance of Rajvaidya Pandit Gokul Chand ji in his Gurukul from Ludhiana.
Azad Moopen is an Indian healthcare entrepreneur, physician, and philanthropist. He is the developer of many healthcare facilities in Asia-Pacific. He is also the chairman and managing director of Aster DM Healthcare, a healthcare conglomerates in the Middle East and India founded in 1987. In 2010 and 2011, he was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman and Padma Shri by the Government of India, respectively. Forbes ranked him 6th in the "Top 100 Indian Leaders in UAE" list, and according to Arabian Business named him as 29th in the "50 Richest Indians in the GCC".
Ashok Panagariya is an Indian neurologist, medical researcher and academic, known for his researches on nerve cells and neuromyotonia. He is a former Vice Chancellor of Rajasthan University of Health Sciences, Jaipur and a former member of the Planning Board of the Government of Rajasthan. A recipient of prestigious Dr. B. C. Roy Award, the highest Indian award in the medical category. Dr. Ashok Panagariya was awarded the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2014.
Harish Chandra Verma is an Indian experimental physicist and a professor emeritus of the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur since 1994. His field of research is nuclear physics.
Binny Yanga was an Indian social worker, a member of the National Planning Commission of India and the founder of Oju Welfare Association (OWA), a non governmental organization based in Arunachal Pradesh, working for the welfare of the weaker sections of the society and campaigning against social Illnesses such as child marriage, forced marriage and dowry. She was honored by the Government of India, in 2012, with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri.
Yogesh Kumar Chawla is an Indian medical doctor, hepatologist and has served as the director of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh. He graduated in medicine from the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Medical College, Jabalpur, secured a master's degree (MD) in gastroenterology from the same college before joining PGIMER in 1983 as a member of faculty of the department of hepatology and became the head of the department in 1999. Chawla, a recipient of the 1999 Dr. B. C. Roy Award and an elected fellow of the National Academy of Medical Sciences was honoured by the Government of India in 2015 with Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award.
Dr Sunil Trivedi "Jogi" is an Indian author, poet of comic verses and the Ex-chairman of Hindustani Academy, a post holding the rank of a Minister of State in the Government of Uttar Pradesh. Born on 1 January 1971 to Ram Prakash Trivedi and Arundati Devi in Kanpur, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Jogi secured his masters (MA) and doctoral (PhD) degrees in Hindi literature. He is the author of over 100 books and is the president of MAA Foundation (NGO), New Delhi, a non-profit organization promoting sustainable education in the rural areas. Dr. Jogi was honoured by the Government of India in 2015 with Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award.
Bimla Poddar is an Indian social worker, philanthropist and the founder of Jnana Pravaha, a Varanasi based centre for cultural studies, engaged in the efforts to preserve the cultural heritage of India. Under the aegis of the organization, Poddar is involved in activities related to exploration of India's culture and maintains a heritage museum housing artifacts from ancient India. Born and brought up in Varanasi, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, she was married into a rich business family to late Bimal Kumar Poddar and holds the directorship of many of the family concerns which includes Ambuja Cements. She was honoured by the Government of India in 2015 with Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award.
Ashok Bhagat, popularly known as Baba ji, is an Indian social worker and the secretary of Vikas Bharti, a non-governmental organization working for the upliftment of rural population of Jharkhand. He was born in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, holds a master's degree in Arts and a graduate degree in Law and is a nominated leader of Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan campaign for the state of Jharkhand. The Government of India honoured him in 2015 with the Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award for his contributions to the area of social service.
Kalyan Singh Gupta (1923–2002) was an Indian independence activist and social worker. He was the co-founder of the Lok Kalyan Samiti, a non-governmental organization based in the National Capital Region, together with Sucheta Kripalani in 1952.
Claire Marie Jeanne Vellut (1926–2013) was a Belgian born naturalised Indian leprologist, humanist and the founder of the Damien Foundation India Trust, a non profit non governmental organization engaged in providing treatment and rehabilitation services to people afflicted with leprosy and tuberculosis in India. She spent 55 years in India treating leprosy and tuberculosis patients, associating with the state and central governments or independently under the aegis of the trust she founded in 1955. The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest Indian civilian honour of Padma Shri in 1981.
Acharya Ramamurti (1913–2010) was an Indian social activist, gandhian, educationist and academic. He headed the review committee of 1990, popularly known as Ramamurti Review Committee, for evaluating the progress of the National Policy on Education of 1986. He was the director of Shrambharati, a non governmental organization, engaged in community development, adhering to Gandhian ideals. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian award of the Padma Shri in 1999.
Devendra Triguna is an Indian Ayurveda practitioner, known for his expertise in Pulse diagnosis. He is a former honorary physician to the President of India and the incumbent president of the Association of Manufacturers of Ayurvedic Medicine (AMAM) and the All India Ayurvedic Congress (AIAC). The Government of India awarded him the fourth-highest civilian award, the Padma Shri, in 1999, and followed it up, a decade later, with the third-highest honour of the Padma Bhushan in 2009.
Maguni Charan Das was an Indian traditional dancer, known as one of the masters of Gotipua, a traditional dance form of Odisha. He was the founder of Dasabhuja Gotipua Odishi Nrutya Praishad, a school for Gotipua dance where the art form is taught in the traditional Gurukul way. Born in Raghurajpur, in Puri district of the Indian state of Odisha, he is known to have contributed to the revival of Gotipua tradition, which is widely considered as the precursor of the classical dance form of Odissi. His style of performance is known as the Raghurajpur Gharana of Gotipua and his school provides training in the dance discipline, while taking care of the academic education of the students. He was a recipient of Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and Tulsi Award. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2004, for his contributions to Gotipua dance.
Lalit Pande is an Indian social worker, environmentalist and the founder of Uttarakhand Seva Nidhi Environmental Education Centre, a non governmental organization promoting environmental education in the hilly areas of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Under the aegis of the organization, Pande is known to have introduced community educational programmes focused on environment and development and supported over 200 community based organizations in the state. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2007, for his contributions to environmental education.
Natesaganabadigal Ramaswami Ayyar (1896–1976) was an Indian educationist, social reformer and lawyer from Tiruchirapalli, in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Mata Prasad is a retired Indian Administrative Service officer. He was one of the first people from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to become an IAS officer. He is a former chairman of the Union Public Service Commission of India. He served as the chief secretary of the state of Uttar Pradesh from June 1995 to October 1996, thus becoming the first Scheduled Caste officer to head the state bureaucracy. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 2012, for his contributions to civil service.
