Republic Day: 13 distinguished personalities from North East conferred with Padma Awards

As India celebrates its 74th Republic day on Thursday, as many as 13 distinguished personalities from North East India have been conferred with this year's Padma Awards.

According to a press statement of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the awardees are Hemoprava Chutia (Art), Hem Chandra Goswami (Art) and Ramkuiwangbe Jene (Social Work) from Assam, Narendra Chandra Debbarma (Posthumous) and Bikram Bahadur Jamatia (Social Work) from Tripura, Risingbor Kurkalang (Art) from Meghalaya, Karma Wangchu (Posthumous) from Arunachal Pradesh, KC Runremsangi (Art) from Mizoram, Tula Ram Upreti (Others Agriculture) from Sikkim and K Shanathoiba Sharma (Sports) and Thounaojam Chaoba Singh (Public Affairs) from Manipur, Neihunuo Sorhie (Art) and Moa Subong (Art) from Nagaland.

Tula Ram Upreti was chosen for his contribution to agriculture, Hemoprava Chutia, Hem Chandra Goswami, Risingbor Kurkalang, and KC Runremsangi for their contributions to art, Narendra Chandra Debbarma and Chaoba Singh for their contributions to public affairs, Jene, Jamatia, and Wangchu for their contributions to social work, and Shanathoiba Sharma for sports.

Hem Chandra Goswami, who has been conferred the Padma Shri award said that he is very happy about it.

"I am very happy to hear the news. I was associated with "Mukha Silpa" (Art of Mask making) since my childhood and I always try to bring forward the art given by our Guru (Mahapurush Srimanta Sankardev). Today the Guru's Satriya art has received recognition. My father Late Rudra Kanta Goswami was also my art Guru. Today, I remember his words as he told me that, we would have to keep alive the art," Hem Chandra Goswami said.

( With inputs from ANI )