Singers Anoop Jalota, Rajan and Sajan Mishra, Rekha Bhardwaj, Kailash Kher and lyricist-music composer Ravindra Jain were among the 56 people who were Monday presented the Yash Bharti award by Uttar Pradesh.
The awards were constituted by the then Mulayam Singh Yadav government in 1994-95.
Giving away the awards in the Uttar Pradesh capital, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said that felicitating eminent people from the field of music, literature, sports, fine arts, health and other fields was an honour in itself.
He said all such people were an example to emulate for the young and the generations to come.
Akhilesh Yadav said such personalities while earning worldwide respect for themselves were also acting as ambassadors of the state.
The Yash Bharti award carries a citation and Rs.11 lakh.
Other awardees included Vishnu Saxena, Devi Prasad Pandey 'Adig', Vansh Gopal Yadav, Munavvar Anjar and Rahat Ali Khan Sabri.