List of Padma Bhushan award recipients (2000–2009)

[1] Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service of a high order", without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex.

[2] The recipients receive a Sanad, a certificate signed by the President of India and a circular-shaped medallion with no monetary association.

The medal is suspended by a pink riband 1+1⁄4 inches (32 mm) in width with a broad white stripe in the middle.

Individuals from ten different fields were awarded, which includes sixty-nine artists, sixty from literature and education, forty-three from science and engineering, twenty-seven from trade and industry, twenty-six from medicine, twenty-two from public affairs, eighteen from social work, twelve from civil services, ten from other fields, and four sportspersons.

[7] In a letter she wrote to the then President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, she mentioned that she had refused the award when the Ministry of Human Resource Development contacted her.

Close-up of Wahiduddin Khan.
Wahiduddin Khan (awarded in 2000) is an Islamic scholar and peace activist. He founded the Centre for Peace and Spirituality in 2001. [ 10 ]
An image of L. Subramaniam.
L. Subramaniam (awarded in 2001) is considered the first among Indians to introduce the concept of Jugalbandi between Hindustani classical and Carnatic music . [ 11 ]
An image of Yamini Krishnamurthy.
Yamini Krishnamurthy (awarded in 2001) is an Indian classica dancer of Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi style. She is also the recipient of Padma Vibhushan and Padma Shri . [ 12 ]
Close up of Raj Reddy.
Raj Reddy (awarded in 2001) is an Indian-American computer scientist and is the recipient of the Turing Award (1994) for his work in the field of Artificial Intelligence and computer science . [ 13 ]
A man speaking in a conference with hand gestures.
Naresh Trehan (awarded in 2001) is a cardiovascular - cardiothoracic surgeon and the founder of Medanta Institute. [ 14 ]
Zakir Hussain playing tabla.
Zakir Hussain (awarded in 2002) is a tabla player in Hindustani classical music . He is also the recipient of Padma Shri , the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and the National Heritage Fellowship given by the United States. [ 15 ]
An image of Mario Miranda
Mario Miranda (awarded in 2002) was a cartoonist and painter. [ 16 ]
An image of Sitakant Mahapatra.
Sitakant Mahapatra (awarded in 2003) is a poet, literary critic , and ex- IAS officer. He is also the recipient of the Jnanpith Award , the Sahitya Akademi Award , and the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship . [ 17 ]
An image of Padma Subramanyam.
Padma Subramanyam (awarded in 2003) is a Bharatanatyam dancer and has also received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1983) and is elected Fellow of Sangeet Natak Akademi for her contribution to Indian dance. [ 18 ]
An image of Govindarajan Padmanaban.
A recipient of the Padma Shri and Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology , Govindarajan Padmanaban (awarded in 2003) is a biochemist, biotechnologist and former director of Indian Institute of Science . [ 19 ]
An image of Sardara Singh Johl.
Sardara Singh Johl (awarded in 2004) is an agricultural economist and chancellor of Central University of Punjab . He also served as consultant to Food and Agriculture Organization , World Bank and United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia . [ 20 ]
An image of Kiran Shaw.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (awarded in 2005) is the chairperson of Biocon and Indian Institute of Management Bangalore . She has frequently appeared in Forbes list of most powerful women . [ 21 ]
An image of Madhav Gadgil.
Madhav Gadgil (awarded in 2006) is an ecologist academic, writer, and the founder of the research forum, Centre for Ecological Sciences. [ 22 ]
An image of Azim Premji.
Often called as "the czar of the Indian IT Industry", Azim Premji (awarded in 2006) is the chairperson of Wipro Limited . [ 23 ]
An image of Devaki Jain.
Devaki Jain (awarded in 2006) is an Indian economist and writer, who has worked mainly in the field of feminist economics . She has written several books and papers on gender rights, development and feminist reflections. [ 24 ]
An image of Kavalam Narayana Panicker
Kavalam Narayana Panicker (awarded in 2007) has written 26 Malayalam plays and is a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and the fellowship of the Sangeet Natak Akademi . [ 25 ]
An image of Vilayanur S. Ramachandran
Once described as "the Marco Polo of neuroscience ", the Neuroscientist Vilayanur S. Ramachandran (awarded in 2007) is best known for developing a therapy for Phantom limb pain. [ 26 ]
An image of Kaushik Basu
Kaushik Basu (awarded in 2008) is the former Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of the World Bank . He also served as the Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India . [ 27 ]
An image of S. R. Srinivasa Varadhan
S. R. Srinivasa Varadhan (awarded in 2008) is an Abel Prize -winner mathematician primarily known for his fundamental contributions to probability theory . [ 28 ]
An image of Dhananjayans
The Bharatanatyam exponents Shanta Dhananjayan (left) and Vannadil Pudiyaveettil Dhananjayan (right), better known as " Dhananjayans " (awarded in 2009), are founder of "Bharata Kalanjali", a dance institute located at Chennai . [ 29 ]