Padma Awards: 13 From Northeast Honoured. Here's What We Know About The Recipients

This year, 13 people were selected from the northeastern states for the Padma Awards. Here's all about the recipients.

The three Padma award medals

As many as 12 eminent personalities from the northeastern states have been conferred with the Padma Awards this year. The Padma awardees' list this year featured a total of 106 names. While three of the names were selected from Assam, Manipur, Tripura, and Nagaland had two names each. The remaining four names selected for the highest civilian awards (apart from Bharat Ratna) were from the four states of Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Meghalaya.

The winners from Assam were Hemoprova Chutia (art), Hem Chandra Goswami (art) and Ramkuiwangbe Jene (social work).

Hemoprova Chutia, a weaver from the Moran district of Assam, was chosen for the award for her creations using different fabrics including cotton, silk, wool, and fine-cut bamboo pieces. Chutia is best known for weaving the Bhagavad Geeta — all 700 verses of it in Sanskrit — into silk . She also wove the Bhagavad Geeta in English on a single piece of cloth, measuring 280 feet × 2 feet.

Hem Chandra Goswami, the satradhikar or religious and administrative head of the Samaguri Satra in Majuli, the world’s largest river island, was selected for the award for his painstaking efforts to revive the traditional masks of Assam. The traditional masks, or mukhas as they are called in Assamese, are an important part of Vaishnative performances called bhaonas. These plays or dramas were started in the 15th-century by social and religious reformer Srimanta Sankardev.

Ramkuiwangbe Jene, who is of Naga descent, lives in the Dima Hasao region of Assam. The 75-year-old is renowned for his contributions to education, particularly for children and women in the region. He is also considered a hero by many followers of the Heraka way of life. 

From Manipur former Union minister Thounaojam Chaoba and Kakchingtabam Shanathoiba Sharma received the awards in the fields of public affairs and sports respectively. Chaoba, a former BJP MLA, has been contributing to public welfare for 40 years.

Kakchingtabam Shanathoiba Sharma, is a mentor in the Manipuri martial art form of Thang Ta. Guru Shanathoiba Sharma is a well-known figure in the field of traditional Manipuri martial arts. Born into a family that practiced Mukna Kangjei, a Manipuri traditional game of wrestling-cum-hockey, and Thang-Ta, Sharma has been honored with the Padma Shri award for his contributions to the training and promotion of Thang-Ta enthusiasts across the region. He played a key role in establishing various cultural bodies.

From Tripura, Narendra Chandra Debbarma, former Revenue Minister in BJP government, was posthumously awarded the Padma Shri in the public affairs category. Debbarma, a veteran tribal leader, had launched a democratic movement for Tipraland two and a half decades back when armed insurgency for a separate state within the territory of Tripura was at its peak. He died three weeks ago after prolonged suffering at the age of 84.

Another veteran social activist of the state, Bikram Bahadur Jamatia, was also honored with the Padma award for his exemplary contribution to social work. Jamatia, a retired Tripura government official, had played a very courageous and significant role against insurgency in Tripura for a long time.

Weaver Neihunuo Sorhie and musician Moa Subong from Nagaland have been awarded the Padma Shri, a prestigious fourth-highest civilian award, for their contributions to the field of Arts. Sorhie is known for her original art motifs and intricate details in traditional weaves and has received the National Handloom Award twice, in 2007 and 2022, for her craft. She has also trained over 300 young Naga women in the art form.

Subong is a folk fusion artist who leads the popular band ‘Abiogenesis’ and has invented the Naga bamboo wind musical instrument called ‘Bamhum’ and created a new music genre called ‘Howey’ and another instrument ‘Tikzik’. He has received numerous awards for his innovative indigenous music.

Four northeastern states are going to polls this year, starting with Tripura on February 16, followed by Meghalaya and Nagaland on February 27. The Election Commission is yet to announce the dates for Mizoram elections, which are likely to be held in November. 

KC Runremsangi, a Mizo Folk Singer from Aizwal, was awarded the Padma Shri for safeguarding Mizo cultural heritage for over three decades. She received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2017. Runremsangi has regularly been conducting Mizo folk dance and music classes since 1992, trying to safeguard the intangible heritage of Mizoram.

Former Arunachal Minister Karma Wangchu, who passed away at the age of 86, has been awarded the Padma Shri posthumously for social work. He was the first person from Tawang district to become a minister in the state Cabinet and served as pro-tem speaker and minister for health, transport and cooperation during his political career. Wangchu worked for the preservation and promotion of cultural heritage in border areas of the state and was a pioneer in bringing government policies and development schemes to remote areas of Tawang district.

Risingbor Kurkalang, a Khasi Duitara-maker and musician from East Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, was also awarded the Padma Shri for his contributions to the field of folk music. He is known for his expertise in making and playing the traditional string instrument, Khasi Duitara, which is unique to the Khasi tribe of Meghalaya.

Lastly, Sikkim's lone Padma award winner Tula Ram Upreti was the oldest person person from Northeast this year. He has been championing , the practice of organic farming for the last eight decades. He is a pioneer in organic paddy cultivation, without using fertilizers, carrying forward the legacy of organic farming in Sikkim.