2017 Padma Awardees Are Some Of India’s Unsung Heroes. Here Are Nine Inspired Selections.

As this year’s Padma Shri selections come to light, one thing becomes immediately clear -- the picks largely comprise the country’s unsung heroes.

Take, for instance, Bipin Ganatra. He’s a volunteer fire fighter who has, over the decades, doused fires and rescued people. "You can say, I have only one interest in life. Fires,” he is quoted by BBC as saying. He chases fires, inspecting TV channels for news of fire breakouts, and then contacting the local fire department and rushing to the location to offer help.

Consider, also, Dr Bhakti Yadav. She is a 91-year-old gynecologist from Madhya Pradesh who is, as reported by Better India, the first female MBBS doctor from Indore. Since from a year after India’s independence from British rule, 1948, Yadav has been treating patients for free! She is said to have delivered thousands of babies over the decades without charging her patients.

Then there’s Genabhai Dargabhai Patel, who, despite coming from humble beginnings as a farmer from Banaskantha district of Gujarat, transformed his drought-hit district into the largest pomegranate producer in the country. Patel experimented boldly, trying out different methods of cultivation till he was able to produce a high-quality variant of the fruit. Bearing the cost himself, he shared his knowledge of scientific farming techniques generously and guided technology adoption locally.

Another pick, Balbir Singh Seechewal, was instrumental in resurrecting the Kali Bein river, the 160km-long tributary of Beas in Doab region of Punjab and considered sacred by many, which had become a dirty, sewage-laden water body due to the release of domestic and industrial waste into the river. He took the initiative, informed the locals about the importance of cleaning up the river and marshalled his team of volunteers to restore the river.

Also honoured this year is Girish Bharadwaj, an engineer who has built over a hundred low-cost, eco-friendly suspension bridges connecting remote villages across the states of Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. And he decided to pursue this noble path after failing to secure a job as an engineering graduate! His bridge building technology costs as low as one-tenth of the cost of conventional steel bridges.

Daripalli Ramaiah, also called Chetla Ramaiah or the Tree Man, is someone who has dedicated his entire life to turning India green. He is known to carry seeds in his pockets so that when he finds a barren spot he quickly plants the seeds. His partner in this noble pursuit has been his life partner, wife Janamma. A report suggests that he has planted over 10 million trees in his life. That itself speaks volumes about his contribution to conservation in India.

Then there’s Anuradha Koirala, a Nepalese social activist who has rescued and rehabilitated 12,000 sex-trafficking victims, Dr Mapuskar, who has dedicated himself to the vision of a Swachh Bharat for fifty years, Meenakshi Amma, India’s oldest woman Kalaripayattu exponent, and many others.

These men and women, who have been doing exemplary work for decades in the dark, now find themselves under the spotlight. They deserve it.