T’gana govt felicitates Padma awardees including Venkaiah Naidu, Chiranjeevi

Hyderabad: The Telangana government on Sunday felicitated former Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu, Telugu actor Chiranjeevi and others who have been selected for Padma awards.

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, and his cabinet colleagues felicitated Venkaiah Naidu and Chiranjeevi, who have been recently conferred with the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian honour in the country and the other Padma Shri awardees.

The Padma Shri awardees, included Gaddam Sammaiah, Velu Ananda Chari, Kethavath Somlal, Dasari Kondappa, Uma Maheshwari and Kurella Vittalacharya.

Speaking on the occasion, Revanth Reddy said this was an apolitical programme.

“We all should unite and move forward to protect our culture and traditions. Hope Telugu pride Venkaiah Naidu will ascend to the post of President of India,” he said, according to an official release.

A cash prize of Rs 25 lakh was presented to the Padma awardees on behalf of the government, it said.

Apart from this, the state government will give Rs 25,000 pension every month to the poets and artists who won the Padma award, the release added.