The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards (PBSA), the highest honour conferred on overseas Indians, were awarded at the digitally held Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention on January 9. Handed out by President of India Ram Nath Kovind, the awards are given to Non-Resident Indians, Persons of Indian Origin or an organization/institution established and run by Non-Resident Indians or Persons of Indian Origin in recognition of their outstanding achievements both in India and abroad.
Among some of the prominent winners was Mukesh Aghi, president of the US India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF), and the Federation of Indian Associations.
Aghi, who in just a few years made the USISPF the top India-centric American business advocacy group, received the award under the business category and also delivered the acceptance speech on behalf of the awardees.
Others from the US who received awards were – Arvind Phukan under the environment technology category, Nilu Gupta for promoting Indian culture and Dr Sudhakar Jonnalagadda in the medicine category.
The Federation of Indian Associations (FIA) of the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, one of the largest umbrella organisations in the Indian community, received the award for community service.
Among other recipients of the 30 awards handed out were – Suriname President Chandrikapersad Santokhi, Curacao Prime Minister Eugene Rhuggenaath and New Zealand minister Priyanca Radhakrishnan.
“A Jury-cum-Awards Committee with Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu as the chairman and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar as the vice chair and other distinguished members from various walks of life considered the nominations for the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards, 2021, and unanimously selected the awardees”, the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement.
Complete list of awardees:
| Name | Country | Field |
| NGO Cultural Diversity for Peaceful Future | Armenia | Promoting Indian Culture |
| Dr. Rajani Chandra D’Mello | Azerbaijan | Medicine |
| Mr. Baburajan Vava Kalluparambil Gopalan | Bahrain | Community Service |
| Mrs. Jamal Ahmad | Botswana | Business |
| Mr. Janakiraman Ravikumar | Cameroon | Closer ties with India |
| H.E. Mr. Eugene Rhuggenaath | Curacao (The Netherlands) | Public Service |
| Mr. Debashish Chaudhuri | Czech Republic | Art and Culture |
| Mr. Mohammed Husein Hasanali Sardharwala | Ethiopia | Business |
| Sai Prema Foundation | Fiji | Community Service |
| Dr. Balasubramanian Ramani | Germany | Education |
| Mr. Lal Lokumal Chellaram | Hong Kong | Community Service |
| Dr. (Prof.) Muralidhar Miryala | Japan | Science & Technology |
| Mr. Rajib Shaw | Japan | Education |
| Mr. Salil Panigrahi | Maldives | Tourism |
| Dr. Ravi Prakash Singh | Mexico | Science & Technology |
| Hon. Ms. Priyanca Radhakrishnan | New Zealand | Public Service |
| Indian Cultural Association (ICA) | Nigeria | Community Service |
| Dr. Mohan Thomas Lazarus Pakalomattom | Qatar | Medicine |
| Mr. Jean Regis Ramsamy | Reunion (France) | Media & Community Service |
| Mr. Siddeek Ahmed | Saudi Arabia | Business |
| Dr. Anil Kumar Chotalal Mithani | Sudan | Medicine |
| H.E. Mr. Chandrikapersad Santokhi | Suriname | Public Service |
| Dr. Shachi Gurumayun | Switzerland | Bio-tech Agronomy |
| Mr. Vashdev Tikamdas Purswani | Thailand | Business |
| Mr. Resham Singh Sandhu | UK | Public Service |
| Mr. Arvind Phukan | USA | Environment Technology |
| Ms. Nilu Gupta | USA | Promoting Indian Culture |
| Federation of Indian Associations NY, NJ & CT | USA | Community Service |
| Dr. Sudhakar Jonnalagadda | USA | Medicine |
| Dr. Mukesh Aghi | USA | Business |