The Padma Vibhushan is the second-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "exceptional and distinguished service". All persons without distinction of race, occupation, position or sex are eligible for these awards. However, government servants including those working with PSUs, except doctors and scientists, are not eligible for these Awards. As of 2024, the award has been bestowed on 336 individuals, including thirty-one posthumous and twenty-one non-citizen recipients.
P. Parameswaran, often referred to as Parameswarji, was a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) pracharak from Kerala, India who was erstwhile Vice‑President of the Jan Sangh.
Kirit S. Parikh is Emeritus Professor and Founder Director of Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), Mumbai, India. He has also served as Senior Economic Advisor to United Nations Development Programme from October 1997 to September 1998. He has been a member of the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) for multiple Prime Ministers of India: Rajiv Gandhi, V.P.Singh, Chandra Shekhar, P.V. Narasimha Rao and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Yash Pal was an Indian scientist, educator and educationist. He was known for his contributions to the study of cosmic rays, as well as for being an institution-builder. In his later years, he became one of the leading science communicators of the country.
Girilal Jain was an Indian journalist. He served as the editor of The Times of India from 1978 until 1988. He advocated establishing old glory and re establishing the great tenets of Hinduism aligned with nationalism and authored books on the subject, the best known of which, The Hindu Phenomenon, was published posthumously. The government of India awarded him the civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan in 1989. He is accused by Congressional records of being vituperative towards Sikhs in editorial named "De-Turbaning of Sikhs".
Lakshmi Chand Jain (1925–2010) was a political activist and writer. Later, he served at various times as a member of the Planning Commission, as Indian High commissioner to South Africa, as a member of the World Commission on Dams (WCD) and as secretary of the Indian Cooperative Union and the All India Handicrafts Board (AIHB). His position as the ambassador was terminated as the Vajpayee Government felt that he had not defended India's position on Nuclear tests effectively in South Africa. He eventually joined the Indian National Congress. He was posthumously awarded Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award, by the UPA government. However his family declined to accept the award, saying that Jain was against accepting State Honours.
Kumarpal Balabhai Desai is an author, critic, editor, journalist, columnist and translator from Gujarat, India. He studied and later taught at the Gujarat University. He is associated with several social and Gujarati literary organisations such as Gujarati Sahitya Parishad. He has written and edited more than hundred books including biographies and several works on Jainism. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2004.
Eberhard Fischer is a German art historian, ethnologist and author based in Switzerland. He is a former Director and the incumbent President of Rietberg Society, Switzerland. Fischer was honored by the Government of India, in 2012, with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri.
Gyan Chand Jain (1923-2007) was an Indian writer and scholar of Urdu literature. Born in 1923 at Seohara of Bijnore district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Jain was known for his scholarship on Ghalib literature. He authored several books including Aik Bhasha: Do Likhawat, Do Adab and Urdu Ki Nasri Dastanain, the latter considered by many as his masterpiece.
Nemi Chandra Jain (1919-2005) was an Indian poet, critic, theatre personality and the founder of Natarang Pratishthan, a charitable trust established in 1989 for the promotion of theatre, arts, literature and culture in India. He was born on 16 August 1919 in Agra and was a holder of a master's degree (MA) in English. He served the National School of Drama as a senior lecturer from 1959 till 1982 and also worked with The Statesman and The Economic Times as a columnist. He founded Natrang, a theatre magazine, was its editor and visited many countries with his theatre activities. He was the author of Octave Strings (1944), Solitary (1973), Navanna (2002), Aage Gahan Andhera Hai (2007) and Rang Dharshan (2008) besides several translations and critical essays on a variety of subjects. including From the Wings, Notes on Indian Theatre, which is a prescribed text for academics at Christ University.
Rahul Jain is an Indian textile designer, art historian and author. Born in Delhi in 1963, he founded ASHA, a textile workshop engaged in promoting the traditional Indo-Iranian weaving techniques in Varanasi in 1993 and is reportedly contributing to the revival of the dying art form of silk weaving on traditional Indian drawlooms. He employs silver and gold threads on pure Indian, Iranian, and Turkish silk and his motifs are known to be Mughal, Safavid and Ottoman inspired.
Khushdeva Singh (1902–1985) was an Indian physician and social worker, known for his contributions towards the treatment of tuberculosis in India. Born in Patiala in the Indian state of Punjab, he served at the Hardinge Sanatorium, Dharampur in Himachal Pradesh for most of his service. He was the founder of the Lepers' Welfare Society, Patiala for the rehabilitation of leprosy patients of the region. Reports credit him as a humanist with a secular vision; he was known to have treated several Muslims during the Partition of India. He is the author of the books In Dedication and Love is Stronger Than Hate. In 1957, the Government of India honoured him with Padma Shri, the fourth-highest Indian civilian award, for his service to the nation. The Padma Shri Dr. Khushdeva Singh Hospital for Chest Diseases in Patiala is named after him.
Virendra Prabhakar was an Indian press photojournalist, cited by the Limca Book of Records as the longest serving press photojournalist. 14,458 published news photos have been credited to him. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest Indian civilian honour of Padma Shri in 1982.
Susil Chandra Munshi is an Indian interventional cardiologist and the Director of the department of Cardiac Research and Education at Jaslok Hospital, Mumbai. He is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, Indian College of Cardiology, Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, Indian College of Physicians, Cardiological Society of India and the Indian Society of Electrocardiology. He served as the president of the Cardiological Society of India from 1989 to 1990, a member of its panel of national advisors and national faculty and is a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award of the society in 2012. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian award of the Padma Shri, in 1991.
Saryu Vinod Doshi is an Indian art scholar, art historian, academic and curator, known for her erudition in Indian miniature paintings and Jain art. She is the founder director of the National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai and a former pro-tem chairman of the Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi. She is the author of several books including Masterpieces of Jain Painting, a monograph on selected Jain art pieces. The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian award of the Padma Shri, in 1999.
Sharayu Daftary is an Indian industrialist and a former president of the Indian Merchants' Chamber (IMC), the first elected president of the organization. She is the first woman president of the Automotive Components Manufacturers Association and the first woman to sit in the executive committee of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). She is the founder of Bharat Radiators Limited and the president of the Dakshin Bharat Jain Sabha. The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2004, for her contributions to the Indian industry.
Akshay Kumar Jain (1915–1993) was an Indian independence activist, writer, journalist and the editor of Navbharat Times, a Hindi-language daily owned by The Times Group. He was one of the founders of the National Union of Journalists (India) and held the chair of its reception committee when the organization was formed in 1972.
Sudhir V. Shah is an Indian neurologist, professor and the head of the department of neurology at Smt. NHL Municipal Medical College, Ahmedabad. Holder of an MD in general medicine and a DM in neurology, he is associated with the Neurological Society of India, Indian Academy of Neurology and Association of Physicians of India as a member. He is known for his research on brain cells and books on neurology and Jainism which have reportedly been sold over 50,000 copies, the earnings of which have been donated to charities. He is a former chairman of the National Jain Doctor’s Federation as well as a director of neurosciences at Sterling Hospitals and has served as the honorary neurologist to the Governor of Gujarat. He has written several articles on neurology and spirituality which include Journey to Happiness and Peace, The Art and Science of Meditation, Diseases of The Brain and Nervous System, and Jainism: A Super Science and is a co-author of Meditation Must, a book detailing the medical aspects of meditation. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2016, for his contributions to medical science.
Hari Krishan Jain was an Indian cytogeneticist and plant breeder, known for his contributions to the field of genetic recombination and the control of interchromosome level. He is a former chancellor of the Central Agricultural University, Imphal, a former director of the Indian Agriculture Research Institute and a recipient of honours such as Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Award, Borlaug Award and Om Prakash Bhasin Award. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1966, for his contributions to biological sciences. He received the fourth highest Indian civilian honor, the Padma Shri, in 1981.
