Anand Kumar, Kapil Dev Prasad, and Subhadra Devi from Bihar awarded with Padma Shri 2023

The nation celebrated its 74th Republic Day on Wednesday amid the celebration Government of India issued the list of names for the Padma Awards. This year 106 people from various fields were selected across the nation, 91 people were selected for Padma Shri and Dilip Mahalanbis a.k.a Father of ORS (Oral Rehydration Solution) will be honored with Padma Vibhushan along with six others. The list of 91 awardees for Padma Shri included venerated Anand Kumar, Kapil Dev Prasad, and Subhadra Devi from Bihar.

Anand Kumar, the renowned mathematician from Patna, is known for coaching IIT-JEE underprivileged students. He annually conducts a test and 30 dexterous students scoring are selected especially from the underprivileged section. For a year those selected students are provided with study materials, food, and lodging free of cost. In the year 2006-07, for the first time, his students gave 100% results as all 30 students qualified the IIT-JEE following the same in the year 2017. Every year thousands of students tutored by him are making into IIT-JEE. The entire work is done independently without the help of the government or private party as he has refused any financial help. To date, he has received a plethora of awards and recognitions both nationally and internationally and a Padma Award would be an iridescent star in his sky. He would be receiving the honor in the field of Literature and Education. In a recent statement thanking his students and well-wishers he said, “With this award, my responsibility has further increased. Now I have to expand Super-30 across the country both via online and offline mode and serve a larger section”.

The second name on the list is 85-year-old Subhadra Devi, who is a renowned Paper Mache artist from Salempur village near Madhubani. She would be honored in the Field Of Art for her contribution to the Paper Mache art. She had learned the skill in his childhood while watching others without the slightest idea of getting immense popularity through this. She received a State award in the year 1980 and a National award in 1991. Popular art culture is appreciated across the globe. Earlier, in her paternal house, the artwork was created by his family and others, in her childhood, she made dolls, chulhas, etc. from the scratch.

Kapil Dev Prasad is a weaver from the Biharsharif block of Nalanda District. He also would be receiving the honor in the Field of Art. In the year 2017, a nationwide handloom competition was conducted and he was the only one bringing glory to Bihar, his selection for the award has brought glory to Basavanbigha’s weaving two decades.