Sansad Ratna Awards 2025: Maharashtra leads with 7 MPs among 17 awardees
Seven Members of Parliament (MPs) from Maharashtra are among the top 17 MPs from both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha who have been nominated to receive the prestigious Sansad Ratna Awards 2025.
Two parliamentary committees have also been nominated for the award.
Supriya Sule, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) MP from Baramati Lok Sabha constituency; Shrirang Barne, three-time MP from Pune's Maval Lok Sabha Constituency; Rajya Sabha MP Medha Kulkarni; Congress MP Varsha Gaikwad; Smita Uday Wagh (BJP); Arvind Ganpat Sawant (Shiv Sena UBT); and Naresh Ganpat Mhaske (Shiv Sena), are the awardees from Maharashtra.
The Sansad Ratna Awards were instituted in 2010 by Prime Point Foundation and the eMagazine PreSense, following the suggestion of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.
Dr Kalam also inaugurated the first award ceremony in Chennai in May 2010.
Hansraj Gangaram Ahir was the first recipient of the award.
As of 2024, 125 awards have been presented across 14 award ceremonies, recognising individual parliamentarians and parliamentary standing committees.
This year, 17 individual awards will be conferred.
Under the Individual category, Maharashtra has bagged seven awards; Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Rajasthan have won two awards each; whereas Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Assam have bagged one award each.
There are four special awards by the Chairman of the Jury Committee, recognising 'Outstanding and Consistent Contribution to Parliamentary Democracy'.
Sule, Barne, Bhartruhari Mahtab (BJP, Odisha), and N K Premachandran (RSP, Kerala) will receive special awards for their contribution to parliamentary democracy.
These four MPs were top performers during the 16th and 17th Lok Sabha terms and have continued their top performance in the 18th Lok Sabha also.
The nominations were made by the Jury Committee, chaired by Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, Chairman of the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC).
The Awards will be presented during the 15th edition of the Sansad Ratna Awards ceremony, scheduled for the last week of July in New Delhi.
K Srinivasan, Founder and Chairman, Prime Point Foundation, told The Indian Express that the Jury Committee – comprising distinguished Award-winning parliamentarians and representatives of civil society – nominates the awardees based on performance data.
'This data is sourced from the official records of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Secretariats, as well as PRS Legislative Research. Performance indicators include the number of initiated debates, private members' bills introduced, and questions raised,' Srinivasan said.
He also observed that it was remarkable that there was a high number of MPs from Maharashtra.
'Though they belong to different political parties, what stands out and commands respect is their unified voice when it comes to the progress of Maharashtra. Almost every year, the contingent from Maharashtra is the largest among the Sansad Ratna awardees,' Srinivasan said.
Priyadharshni Rahul, Chairperson, Sansad Ratna Awards Committee, said that for the past 15 years, they have been presenting the awards and are committed to the belief that the parliamentary system is the best form of governance.
'We continue to stand firmly by it. When we conduct our analysis and see the emergence of new and promising members, it strengthens our faith that the nation is in good hands,' Priyadharshni said.
'In fact, it is a moment of pride that all the women MPs nominated this time are from Maharashtra, and for the first time, a woman MP, Smita Uday Wagh, has won for the overall performance across the country,' she added.
When contacted, three-time MP Shrirang Barne from Pune's Maval Lok Sabha constituency attributed his nomination for the Sansad Ratna award to the love and support he has received from people.
'I have been able to raise important questions in Parliament and have maintained a 95 per cent attendance while fulfilling my responsibilities. I am extremely grateful and honoured to have been nominated for this recognition,' Barne told The Indian Express.
Praveen Patel and Ravindra Kishan Shukla alias Ravi Kishan (both BJP) from Uttar Pradesh, Dr Nishikant Dubey and Bidyut Baran Mahato (both BJP) from Jharkhand, P P Chaudhary and Madan Rathore (both BJP) from Rajasthan, C N Annadurai (DMK) from Tamil Nadu, and Dilip Saikia (BJP, Assam) are among the other awardees.
Two standing committees have also been chosen for their performance based on their reports presented to Parliament.
This includes the Standing Committee on Finance, chaired by Bhartruhari Mahtab (BJP, Odisha), and Standing Committee on Agriculture, chaired by Dr Charanjit Singh Channi (Congress, Punjab).
When contacted, Dr Channi said that 'this was a very good initiative, and serves as an important source of motivation and encouragement for our Members of Parliament.'
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