Cricketers Gautam Gambhir and Zaheer Khan, actor Kangana Ranaut and IIT-Bombay director Devang Khakhar are among the many who were recommended for a Padma award this year, but didn't make the final cut.

A Right to Information query filed by Mathang Seshagiri found that names considered by the search committee comprising bureaucrats had recommended several names who eventually didn't walk home with the award this time.

Later, the nine-member awards committee did not consider these actors and cricketers. This year's awards committee comprising the cabinet secretary, also underwent a change with the PM dropping his yoga guru H R Nagendra from the expert list, but keeping P N Tandon, S Gurumurthy, Dr A Surya Prakash on the panel from last year. The others on the awards panel were Dr Sonal Man Singh, Manju Sharma, professor Syed Bari, home secretary and the secretary to the president. Among others who experts recommended were singer Suman Kalyanpur, ghazal singer Talat Aziz and nuclear scientist Ratan Kumar Sinha.

This year, the President approved conferment of Padma Awards to 112 persons, comprising 10 Padma Vibhushan, 19 Padma Bhushan and 83 Padma Shri awardees. Nineteen of the awardees are women and the list includes 10 from the category of foreigners, NRIs, PIOs (including one posthumous) and four posthumous awardees.

It is the usual practice to invite recommendations every year from all state UT governments, ministries departments of Government of India, Bharat Ratna and Padma Vibhushan awardees and Institutes of Excellence. Recommendations from them and from other sources like ministers, chief ministers, governors of states, Members of Parliament, as also private individuals, bodies, are placed before the Padma Awards Committee.