Padma Awards 2026 announced: 131 awards including 5 Padma Vibhushan
On the eve of Republic Day, the President approved 131 Padma Awards for 2026 — 5 Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri.
Summary
The Ministry of Home Affairs announced the Padma Awards 2026 on 25 January. The 131 awards (including 2 duo cases counted as one) comprise 5 Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri. 19 awardees are women, 6 are from the Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI category and 16 are posthumous. Padma Vibhushan goes to Dharmendra Singh Deol (posthumous, Art), K T Thomas (Public Affairs), N Rajam (Art), P Narayanan (Literature and Education) and V S Achuthanandan (posthumous, Public Affairs). Padma Bhushan awardees include Alka Yagnik, Mammootty, Uday Kotak, Shibu Soren (posthumous) and Vijay Amritraj, while sportspersons Rohit Sharma, Harmanpreet Kaur Bhullar and Savita Punia are among the Padma Shri awardees.
Key facts
- Total
- 131 awards (2 duo cases counted as one)
- Split
- 5 Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan, 113 Padma Shri
- Women
- 19
- Posthumous
- 16
- Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI
- 6
- Padma Vibhushan
- Dharmendra (posth.), K T Thomas, N Rajam, P Narayanan, V S Achuthanandan (posth.)
- Sports (Padma Shri)
- Rohit Sharma, Harmanpreet Kaur Bhullar, Savita Punia and others
- Conferred by
- President, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, usually March/April
Practice MCQs 3 questions
How many Padma Vibhushan awards were announced for 2026?
Show answer
Correct answer: B — 5
PIB (MHA): the 131 Padma Awards for 2026 comprise 5 Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri.
Which of the following received the Padma Vibhushan 2026 posthumously?
Show answer
Correct answer: A — V S Achuthanandan
PIB: V S Achuthanandan (Public Affairs, Kerala) and Dharmendra Singh Deol received Padma Vibhushan posthumously; Shibu Soren, Piyush Pandey and V K Malhotra received Padma Bhushan posthumously.
Consider the following about the Padma Awards 2026: 1. 19 of the awardees are women. 2. 16 awards are posthumous. 3. Cricketer Rohit Sharma received the Padma Bhushan. Which of the statements given above are correct?
Show answer
Correct answer: B — 1 and 2 only
PIB: 19 awardees are women and 16 are posthumous. Rohit Sharma (Sports, Maharashtra) is in the Padma Shri list, not Padma Bhushan.