New Delhi: A day after they were honoured by President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Padma Awardees on Tuesday visited the National War Memorial here.

The awardees went around the memorial and were moved to see the names of the personnel of the Defence Forces who over the years have made the supreme sacrifice and laid down their lives to protect the nation's borders, according to an official statement.

The awardees appreciated the initiative of the government to organize the visit and its efforts to popularize the memorial as a place for people and children to visit in the national capital. The awardees felt that a visit to the memorial will help in inculcating the values of patriotism, devotion to duty, courage and sacrifice and instill the feeling of nationalism.

The National War Memorial (NWM) was dedicated to the Nation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 25, 2019. It stands testimony to the sacrifices made by the gallant soldiers since Independence. Since its inauguration, all homage ceremonies are conducted only at the NWM, including those on National Days.

The emphasis is on recognizing people who are giving selfless service to society. The use of technology and the introduction of online nomination has made the process simple and accessible to the people at large and a record number of over 4.80 lakh nominations were received for the Padma Awards, 2022. The self-nomination, online nomination, selection of large number of unsung heroes and transparent selection process has transformed the Padma Awards into the "People's Padma" said the official statement from the Home Ministry.

To celebrate the achievement of the awardees, the Union Minister of Home Affairs and Cooperation Amit Shah interacted with the awardees and their families on Monday at a programme in New Delhi, after the investiture ceremony. The interaction was followed by a dinner, hosted by the Union Home Minister in honour of the Padma Awardees.

President of India, Ram Nath Kovind conferred two Padma Vibhushan, eight Padma Bhushan and 54 Padma Shri Awards for the year 2022, at a Civil Investiture Ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan yesterday.