Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra was awarded the Padma Shri, the country’s fourth highest civilian honor, on Monday, March 28, 2022. 24-year-old javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra was conferred this honor by President Ram Nath Kovind at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Apart from Neeraj Chopra, the President honored 8 other sportspersons with Padma awards. These include the name of Paralympian Javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia. Devendra Jhajharia was awarded the Padma Bhushan.
Neeraj, a resident of Panipat, Haryana, has also received the Khel Ratna award. Neeraj Chopra had led India to its first Olympic gold in the track and field event at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. He is the second Indian after Abhinav Bindra to win an individual event gold.
Apart from Neeraj, Sumit Antil, who won gold medal in javelin throw at Tokyo Paralympic Games, Sankarnarayan, martial arts player, Kung-fu player Faisal Ali Dar, Paralympic Games gold medalist badminton player Pramod Bhagat were also honored with Padma Shri. Pramod Bhagat is the first Indian to win gold in para badminton.
Pramod Bhagat won the yellow medal in men’s singles SL3 category. Apart from this, Vandana Kataria, who represented the country in the Olympics in hockey, Paralympian shooter Avani Lekhra and footballer Brahmanand Sankhwalkar were also honored with Padma Shri.
Two days ago (on the day of the start of IPL 2022), the BCCI Neeraj Chopra including all other Olympic medalists. The BCCI had given checks of Rs 1 crore to Neeraj Chopra and Rs 50 lakh each to other players.
After receiving the honour, Neeraj Chopra also made a tweet. He wrote, ‘Today, hearing the national anthem at Rashtrapati Bhavan, got goosebumps. Proud to be honored by President Ram Nath Kovind. I will continue to work with such hard work for the country.
Padma awards are given in three categories
Padma Awards It is one of the highest civilian honours of India. These awards are given in three categories – Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. Padma Vibhushan awards are given for exceptional and distinguished service, Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of high order and Padma Shri for distinguished service.
This year’s list of Padma awards includes four Padma Vibhushan, 17 Padma Bhushan and 107 Padma Shri awards. Among the Padma awardees, 34 are women. The list of awardees includes 10 persons from the category of Foreigners/NRIs/PIOs/OCIs and 13 posthumous awardees.