4 Celebrities of the State Honored with Padma Shri

• 07 Apr 2023

Why in News?

On 5 April 2023, President Draupadi Murmu honoured 4 personalities from Rajasthan with Padma Shri at the Padma Awards (second edition) held at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi.

Key Points

• In the second edition of the Padma Awards, eminent personalities for their outstanding work in the field of social work, Public Life, Science, Engineering, Business, Industry, Medicine, Literature, Education, Sports, Civil Services and arts were honoured with the country's best civilian awards Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.
• It is noteworthy that the names of the winners of these awards were announced on 25 January 2023. Those winners were awarded at the first edition of the Padma Awards ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan on March 22. The remaining awardees are now conferred with the Padma Awards by the President.
• The awardees of the state include Ahmed Hussain & Mohammad Hussain for their excellent work in the field of ghazal singing & classical music, social worker Moolchand Lodha of Dungarpur for social work and Laxman Singh Lapodia of Jaipur for excellent work in the social sector itself.
• Moolchand Lodha, who belongs to the tribal-dominated Bangar area of the Dungarpur district, runs an organization called Jagran Jan Seva Mandal for the upliftment of tribals. Moolchand Lodha has been working continuously for the last 5 decades for the medical, education and welfare of tribals in the tribal and backward areas of this region. He has been given Padma Shri for the year 2023 for his excellent work.
• The first album Guldasta of Ghazal singers Ahmed Hussain and Mohammad Hussain brothers was released in 1980 and till now they have released more than 50 albums. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in the year 2000.
• Hussain brothers have also contributed a lot in social service by giving charity shows of Ghazals and classical music all over the world.
• Laxman Singh Lapodia was also awarded the Padma Shri by the President on March 22 during the first edition of the Padma Awards ceremony.
• He has done excellent work in the field of water conservation in the Jaipur district. For water conservation, 5 lakh square meters of land have been irrigated and made fertile by the traditional Chowka method. He has done remarkable work for water conservation in about 100 villages in the area.