Industrialist Anand Mahindra was conferred the 2020 Padma Bhushan award, India's third-highest civilian honour, in the field of Trade and Industry on Monday, but the chairman of Mahindra Group says he feels "undeserving" of being honoured alongside individuals making important contributions at grassroots levels.
Mr Mahindra tweeted Tuesday that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government had made a long-overdue change in the "texture of the Padma Awards recipients", shifting the focus "largely on individuals making seminal contributions to the improvement of society at grassroots levels."
"I truly felt undeserving to be amongst their ranks," the Chairman of Mahindra Group said.
Anand Mahindra was responding to a tweet on Tulsi Gowda, a Padma Shri winner and Karnataka environmentalist, who has planted more than 30,000 saplings. The 77-year-old belongs to the Halakki tribe and is reputed to be an "encyclopaedia of forest" with vast knowledge of plants and herbs.
Many in the comments section agreed with the industrialist.
"What a wonderful sight it is to see such grassroot greats get their due recognition," one Twitter user wrote.
"India is recognising both the grass root people and the big picture ones," said another.
Anand Mahindra's tenure as Chairman of Mahindra Group saw the Group expand domestically and internationally into a range of major industrial sectors from automobile to IT and Aerospace, the official Twitter account of President Ram Nath Kovind said. Today, the Mahindra Group is a diversified Indian conglomerate operating in over 100 countries.
The central government had announced the names of Padma Awardees in January 2020, but due to COVID-19 protocols, the awards were distributed on Monday.
The President conferred Padma awards to 119 Padma Awardees at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. The list comprised seven Padma Vibhushan, 10 Padma Bhushan and 102 Padma Shri Awards.
