PADAM AWARDS ----- just another HONOUR now????

THE padam awards which include padam bhushan, padam vibhushan and padam shri --- are highly prestigious civilian awards given by government of India.

A glance at how names for the awards are short-listed:

Thousands of recommendation from state governments, Union Territory administrations, central ministries, individuals, organisations, even self-recommendations, are placed before the Awards Committee for consideration.

The recommendations of the Awards Committee, which comprises eminent personalities from different fields, are submitted to the home minister and then to the President's office for approval.

After the President's office approves the lists, it travels to the prime minister's office for final scrutiny before they are announced on the eve of Republic Day.

FOREMOST CRITERION FOR THIS AWARD IS PUBLIC SERVICE,,,,,,,,

OK??? SO HERE IS WAT I WAS THINKING

THIS YEAR THESE ARE GIVEN TO AISHWARYA RAI AND AKSHAY KUMAR AMONG OTHERS

WHEREAS INDIA`S OLYMPIC BRONZE MEDALISTS VIJENDER KUMAR AND SUSHIL KUMAR WERE  NOT EVEN CONSIDERED.,,,,,,,,,,,,

WELL WELL WELL........

CONSIDERING INDIA`S RECORD IN OLYMPICS AND LEVEL OF QUALITY IN INDIAN ATHLETES RELATIVE TO THE SO CALLED DEVELOPED COUNTRIES---- ISN'T THIS A HUGE ACHIEVEMENT,,,, AREN'T THOSE BRONZE MEDALS EQUIVALENT TO GOLD ,,,,,,,,,,,

AND WELL,,,,, PUBLIC SERVICE,,,,,,, THESE TWO ATHLETES ARE FROM RURAL AREAS IN HARYANA----  SEEING THESE TWO PREVAIL ON THE HIGHEST LEVEL,,, IT`LL ENCOURAGE AND INSPIRE  PEOPLE FROM THESE SMALL AREAS TO COME FORWARD-- IS IT LESS A PUBLIC SERVICE ?????

DOESN'T IT RAISE A QUESTION INSIDE SOMEWHERE,,,,,,,???????

I DON'T THINK AKSHAY`S HUGE SUCCESS OVER THE FEW PAST YEARS  OR AISHWARYA`S INTERNATIONAL ACCLAIM MAKES THEM AN AUTOMATIC CANDIDATE FOR SUCH HONOURS ????

Have the awards become irrelevant?

GAURAV INSAN