A record 50,000 nominations were received for the Padma Awards this year, up from just 2,200 nominations in year 2014, with government officials saying the 112 awardees come from all corners of the nation and all segments of society, with the selection criteria going beyond excellence alone to recognise “larger impact and selfless service” to make the awards truly “people’s awards”.“Each nominee is profiled based on merit, a scientific evaluation framework and each profile goes through rounds of quality check, scrutiny and expert consultation. This is reflected in the awardees selected,” a government official said. This year’s Padma awards have seen a “historic selection” of 12 farmers from across 9 states, 14 doctors recognized from 11 states, especially for serving the poor and fighting diseases affecting the common man, nine leading sportspersons from as many disciplines, nine writers and journalists across languages, styles and genres and 28 artists handpicked from across disciplines, styles, geographies and ages, official said.For example, among the awarded farmers included horticulturists ranging from growing babycorn and mushroom like Kanwal Singh Chauhan to progressive and hi-tech farmers adopting technology and scientific methods in cultivation like Bharat Bhushan Tyagi, Ram Sharan Verma and Venkateswara Rao Yadlapalli. Traditional farmers conserving old, traditional seeds and promoting organic farming like Kamala Pujhari, Rajkumari Devi, Babulal Dahiya and Hukumchand Patidar were awarded as well.Among doctors, those combating diseases of the common man, like Omesh Kumar Bharti fighting against Rabies, Sudam Kate against Sickle Cell and Ramaswami Venkataswami dealing in reconstruction surgery of burns were awarded along with those serving the poor with quality healthcare at minimal, and often zero cost like Shyama Prasad Mukherjee in Jharkhand and Smita and Ravindra Kolhe in Maharashtra. Padma Awards were also given to doctors serving in the remotest areas of India like Tsering Norboo in Ladakh and Illias Ali in Assam and best doctors from the country’s premier medical institutions like Jagat Ram, Director of PGIMER, Chandigarh and Sandeep Guleria at the Indraprastha Apollo hospital & AIIMS, Delhi, were awarded.Government officials said veteran leaders in public life from across communities were chosen for Padma Awards too, ranging from veteran socialist farmer leader Hukumdev Narayan Yadav, to tribal leader Kariya Munda, sikh leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa , grassroots Mahadalit woman leader Bhagirathi Devi and Sikh lawyer fighting for justice for 1984 riot victims Harvinder Singh Phoolka. The President of Djibouti, Ismail Omar Guelleh, was also awarded a Padma Vibhushan , given his instrumental role in enabling the rescue of thousands of Indian citizens from war-torn Yemen, government officials said.Personalities famous for their love for the cow and Gau Seva, German citizen Friederike Irina, Marathwada’s Shabbir Sayyad and Mathura’s Ramesh Babaji Maharaj were given Padma awards as well. Two women powerhouses working for the welfare of the disabled, Muktaben Pankajkumar Dagli of Gujarat, and Draupadi Ghimiray of Sikkim, were chosen for the awards too, officials said. Some unsung heroes given the awards included a poor farmer named Daitari Naik who single-handedly carving out a 3 km long canal with hoe and crowbar to bring water to his village and a poor tea-seller named Deverapalli Prakash Rao building a school for slum children from his life’s earnings.Officials also pointed to the first-ever choice in India’s most celebrated transgender Bharatnatyam dancer Nartaki Natraj. Among the teachers, choices for the awards ranged from people dedicating their lives to educating children of the Mahadalit Musahar community of eastern India like Jyoti Kumar Sinha, those educating rural poor across northern India like Darshan Lal Jain, and remote tribal communities of central India like Mahesh Sharma. The centenarian global yoga guru, Tao Porchon-Lynch, was also among the awardees.