NEW DELHI: India’s Ministry of Home Affairs declared on the occasion of Republic Day on Saturday that 94 civilians are set to receive the Padma Shri in 2019, the fourth highest honour in the country.
Former cricketer Gautam Gambhir, football captain Sunil Chhetri and wrestling champion Bajrang Punia are the biggest names announced for the award, which will be presented by the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind later in the year.
Chhetri expressed his delight on his official Twitter handle: ‘Today, I find yet another reason to be grateful. I wouldn’t have been honoured with the Padma Shri Award if it hadn’t been for the teammates, coaches, staff, masseurs, physios and management that I have had the pleasure of working with across all these years.’
Gambhir also took to Twitter to respond with the following words: ‘It’s an honour I accept with gratitude. But it’s an honour which also comes with responsibility. I’m living for the day when Gautam Gambhir the human being beats Gautam Gambhir the cricketer. That will be my day, my award to myself. #PadmaAwards2019’
Prashanti Singh (Basketball), Sharath Kamal (Table Tennis), Harika Dronavalli (Chess), L Bombayla Devi (Archery) and Ajay Thakur (Kabaddi) are the other five to complete the list of sportspersons for the award.
However, Bachendri Pal, the first woman mountaineer to climb Mount Everest, will be awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian honour in India.
