Two tribal leaders late Narendra C Debbarma and Bikram Bahadur Jamatia from the state were awarded with Padma Shri this year.

NC Debbarma, a former minister of the BJP-IPFT government who passed away recently was given the Padmashri posthumously. Bikram Bahadur Jamatia , was a former government officer and Jamatia Hoda chief (Okra) .

NC Debbarma (Posthumous) has been awarded in the category- Public Affairs while Bikram Bahadur Jamatia has been awarded for his exemplary contributions in the field of Social Work.

Debbarma  worked for the well-being of the indigenous while former Okra of the powerful socio-religious body of the Jamatia community Bikram Bahadur Jamatia played a key role against the militants of the state. Under his leadership Jamatia Hoda rose against the NLFT militants and effectively countered conversions at gun point.

Both Debbarma and Jamatia were government officials too.

Padma Awards – one of the highest civilian Awards of the country, are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.

These Awards are conferred by the President of India at ceremonial functions which are held at Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March/ April every year.

For the year 2023, the President has approved conferment of 106 Padma Awards including 3 duo cases (in a duo case, the Award is counted as one).

The list comprises 6 Padma Vibhushan, 9 Padma Bhushan and 91 Padma Shri Awards. 19 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 2 persons from the category of Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI and 7 Posthumous awardees.