Union minister Jitendra Singh on Sunday said the Narendra Modi-led government searches for "unsung" heroes and unrecognised talent for the coveted Padma awards.
"The new mechanism of selection which has benefited every state and Union Territory. In Jammu and Kashmir also in the last four years some such luminaries have received Padma Shri whose names were never heard in political circles and who themselves had least expected any state award," he said.
He said there is a clear instruction from the prime minister to exercise total transparency and objectivity in the selection of Padma award recipients.
He has also directed to search for illustrious people who have been working in their fields with dedication and commitment, but have never received recognition because they have no time for lobbying or have been too busy to roam the corridors of powers, Singh said.
The minister was speaking at a ceremony here to felicitate this year's Padma Shri award winner from Jammu, writer Shiv Nirmohi.
Singh said the octogenarian author from a small village near Jammu was never seen moving in high circles or seeking high contacts.
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"His greatest attribute was that for the last 50 years, he quietly dedicated his life to literature and research on monumental destinations and historical-cum-mythological legacy of the Dogra heritage and Jammu region," he said.
Similarly, last year, the minister recalled that Padma Shri was awarded to veteran Dogri writer Narsingh Dev Jamwal, because of whom Dogri plays and short stories were translated in different vernacular languages in 1960s and 1970s.
"One only wonders why he was not selected for an award or recognition in the last 50 years when even some of the self-styled Dogra protagonists were seen lobbying for others," he said.
The minister said it was during the last five years of the Modi government that Padma Shri was awarded to 90-year- old Jammu-based veteran journalist K N Pandita.
Similarly, he said, Padma Shri was also awarded to Jawahar Kaul, a veteran writer and researcher on Jammu and Kashmir affairs.