12 personalities from Tamil Nadu get Padma Shri
CHENNAI: K Vijay Kumar from the 1975 IPS batch credited with spearheading the final operation against forest brigand Veerappan, along with former health minister and polio specialist H V Hande and director of IIT Madras, Veezhinathan Kamakoti, features among the 12 selected from Tamil Nadu for the Padma Shri awards this year.
Vijay Kumar was appointed director of the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy, Hyderabad, and later served as director-general of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). After retirement, he served as senior security adviser in the Union Home Ministry and as adviser to the governor of Jammu and Kashmir.
Speaking to TNIE, Vijay Kumar, who authored ‘Veerappan: Chasing the Brigand’, said, “I’m thankful to everyone who was on my team across my career.”
Dr H V Hande (98), an eminent physician, veteran politician, writer and public intellectual, whose multifaceted career spans medicine, public service and literature, is among the awardees this year. He participated in the Quit India Movement and later emerged as an independent politician, before joining the Swatantra Party and subsequently the AIADMK under former CM M G Ramachandran. After retiring from active politics, he devoted himself to writing and ideological work, later joining the BJP and contributing actively to its intellectual discourse.
V Kamakoti, director of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, has also been selected for the award in recognition of his contributions to computer science, microprocessor development and national technology missions. He said in a statement, “The Padma Shri award means only one thing to me that I will put all my best efforts towards Viksit Bharat @ 2047.”
An alumnus of IIT-M, Kamakoti assumed charge as director in 2022. Kamakoti is best known as the architect of SHAKTI, India’s first homegrown microprocessor, using the open RISC-V architecture.
Sivasankari (83), renowned Tamil writer and social activist whose decade-long literary career is marked by deep social concern, rigorous research, and a commitment to social change, will also receive Padma Shri award this year.
Her extensive body of work spans 36 novels, 48 short novels, 150 short stories, four volumes of literary research books, two volumes of anthologies, and two biographies — of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and G D Naidu.
Former Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) vice-chancellor and agricultural scientist K Ramasamy is also an awardee under the Science and Engineering category.
Ramasamy played a key role in modernising agricultural education in TN. Ramasamy told TNIE, “This has never been an individual effort. Teachers, researchers, workers, farmers and both the central and state governments have worked alongside me.”
Gayatri and Ranjani Balasubramanian have been selected for the Padma Shri award under the Art category for their contribution to Carnatic music. “Generally, when classical musicians are awarded, it is a wonderful feeling because classical music is not like other popular art which naturally have a bigger platform, and is often not spotlighted enough,” Gayatri told TNIE,
In the ‘Unsung heroes’ category, Tiruttani Swaminathan (81), Othuvaar and devotional singer, is among those chosen for the award.
Speaking to TNIE, Swaminathan said the award was a recognition of the Othuvaar community, the Thevaram tradition and a legacy that, he said, was slowly fading from public memory.
Under the same category, Tiruvarur Bakthavathsalam, the mridangam maestro who hails from a family of traditional musicians, will also receive the award. He founded the Laya Madhuraa School of Music in the year 2000 with the aim to nurture and train young talents in mrudangam.
Dr Punniamurthy Natesan, a Thanjavur-based expert in ethno-veterinary medicine and antibiotic-free livestock production, is also set to receive the award.
For veteran sculptor Rajastapathi Kaliappa Goundar, who has devoted more than 50 years to the art of sculpture-making, the Padma Shri, announced on Sunday, comes as a recognition of a lifetime spent shaping tradition into form.
From Puducherry, Silambam coach K Pajanivel (53) of Pooranangkuppam village has been selected for the Padma Shri award under the sports category. Pajanivel has been teaching the ancient martial art free of cost through the Mamallan Silambatta Kazhagam, a martial and folk arts development club.
The award has also been posthumously given to Kurumba painter R Krishnan for reviving the 3,000-year-old art form. Popular actor and filmmaker R Madhavan has also been chosen for the award from Maharashtra for his contribution to art.