Senior Theatre artist - written, directed and performed in Hindi plays over 6 decades

Respected Mathematician and Senior Scientist - originally from Bihar (Posthumous)

Kathak dancer & choreographer from Indore - credited for creating a formal education system of the classical dance form

Veteran Gandhian Scholar and Freedom Fighter - former head of multiple Gandhian institutes and departments across Bhagalpur, Varanasi and Rajasthan

Veteran Ayurvedic Researcher and Professor - one of the foremost authorities on the Charaka Sahita

Apostle of Communal Harmony, Chacha Sharif - Bicycle mechanic who has performed the last rites of 25,000 unclaimed dead bodies over the last 25 years, irrespective of their religion

Veteran Doctor from Patna - serving for the past 5 decades, from a time when very few women were in the field

Sri Lankan Dancing icon carrying forward the legacy of her country's traditional dance forms - seminal contribution in India - Sri Lanka cultural exchange

Enviornmentalist and Founder President of Himalayan Vanya Jeev Sansthan - famous for initiating Maiti movement across 6,000 villages, encouraging plantation

Folk & Sufi singer from Raipur - widely appreciated for his Bhajan