New Delhi: Less than a week is left for Padma Award nominations and the government has received over 1,700 after it sought to widen the process by putting it online.
However, this figure is still behind the number of nominations received in the past two years -2,311 in 2016 and 1,840 in 2015.
A last minute spurt is expected and the home ministry on Friday issued a release, noting, "Nominations received after September 15, 2016 will not be considered."
Nominations this year show an imprint of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's desire to curb any kind of lobbying or cronyism in the Padma Awards.
The national awards are expect ed to be transformed into a true `people's award' by opening up nominations to the people, leveraging technology and making the process transparent.
The home ministry has designed an application portal and electronic management system to process applications, with requirement of an Aadhaar number to ensure authenticity and accountability of nominators.
The government hopes to identify the unsung or lesser known people showing excellence in different walks of life.
