Heroes in Literature & Education (page 2)

Dhaneswar Engti

A Karbi poet, songwriter and editor who founded the literary magazines Monjir and Samphri, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2022.

Padma Shri 2022
Assam

Dhaniram Toto

A writer from the small Toto tribe of north Bengal who created a script for the endangered Toto language, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2023.

Padma Shri 2023
Mann Ki Baat #97
West Bengal

Dharma Narayan Barma

A retired Cooch Behar teacher who has spent his life reviving the Kamatapuri language and its history, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2021.

Padma Shri 2021
West Bengal

Dilip Shahani

An IIT Delhi engineer who chairs the Election Commission's technical committee on voting machines and VVPAT, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2022.

Padma Shri 2022
Delhi

Gambir Singh Yonzone

A Darjeeling botanist and college principal who led a campaign to save the hills' old forests, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2026.

Padma Shri 2026
West Bengal

Ganeshwar Shastri Dravid

A Varanasi Vedic scholar and astrologer who fixed the muhurat for the Ram temple ceremonies in Ayodhya, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2025.

Padma Shri 2025
Uttar Pradesh

Girdhari Ram Ghonju

A Ranchi scholar and playwright called a walking encyclopedia of Jharkhand's languages and culture, honoured posthumously with the Padma Shri in 2022.

Padma Shri 2022 (posthumous)
Jharkhand

Gita Upadhyay

An Assamese and Nepali writer and translator whose work brought Assam's two communities closer, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2025.

Padma Shri 2025
Assam

Harish Naik

A Gujarati children's author and storyteller who wrote over 2,000 stories, honoured posthumously with the Padma Shri in 2024.

Padma Shri 2024 (posthumous)
Gujarat

Harmohinder Singh Bedi

A Hindi scholar and poet from Punjab who has traced Hindi writing in the Gurmukhi script, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2022.

Padma Shri 2022
Punjab

Hormusji N. Cama

Chairman of Mumbai Samachar, Asia's oldest newspaper, who helped bring Gujarati into computer typesetting, honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 2024.

Padma Bhushan 2024
Maharashtra

Hriday Narayan Dikshit

A writer on Indian philosophy and former Speaker of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly with more than 6,000 articles to his name, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2025.

Padma Shri 2025
Uttar Pradesh

Hugh and Colleen Gantzer

A husband-and-wife team who pioneered travel writing in India with more than 3,000 articles and 30 books, honoured posthumously with the Padma Shri in 2025.

Padma Shri 2025 (posthumous)
Uttarakhand

Imran Shah

A Sivasagar writer of novels, stories and poems over 70 years, and a former president of the Asom Sahitya Sabha, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2021.

Padma Shri 2021
Assam

J K Bajaj

A physicist turned policy researcher who co-founded the Centre for Policy Studies in Chennai, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2022.

Padma Shri 2022
Delhi

Jagadish Chandra Halder

A retired West Bengal doctor who writes on the Matua faith and on refugees, and volunteers at workers' hospitals, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2021.

Padma Shri 2021
West Bengal

Jagdish Joshila

The first novelist in the Nimadi language, author of 56 books and a historian of Nimar's freedom fighters, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2025.

Padma Shri 2025
Madhya Pradesh

Jai Bhagwan Goyal

A Kurukshetra scholar who revealed medieval Hindi literature written in Gurmukhi, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2021.

Padma Shri 2021
Haryana

Janum Singh Soy

A Ho writer and retired Hindi professor from Chaibasa who wrote Ho Kudi, the first novel in the Ho language, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2023.

Padma Shri 2023
Mann Ki Baat #97
Jharkhand

Joe D'Cruz

A novelist from a fishing family who writes about coastal life and won the Sahitya Akademi Award, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2024.

Padma Shri 2024
Tamil Nadu

K.L. Krishna

An econometrician who taught at the Delhi School of Economics for half a century and led India's productivity research, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2025.

Padma Shri 2025
Andhra Pradesh

Kailash Chandra Pant

A Hindi writer and journalist who led Bhopal's Hindi Bhawan for decades and edited the magazine Akshara for 18 years, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2026.

Padma Shri 2026
Madhya Pradesh

Kali Pada Saren

A Santali writer and dramatist known as Kherwal Saren, whose plays toured Santal villages against illiteracy, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2022.

Padma Shri 2022
West Bengal

Kapil Kapoor

A JNU scholar of English and Sanskrit who has worked to bring Indian knowledge systems into higher education, honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 2023.

Padma Bhushan 2023
Delhi