Coach, weaver and saint: Meet region’s Padma Shri | Chandigarh News

The honours also celebrate Baldev Singh, the Dronacharya awardee and visionary behind the transformation of women’s hockey in Shahabad, Haryana. As a legendary coach and strict disciplinarian, he turned the Shahabad Markanda training centre into a national powerhouse, producing over 100 international players, including former captain Rani Rampal. Beyond coaching, he often personally funded the training of underprivileged athletes. Among the many stars mentored by Singh is Savita Punia (also awarded Padma Shri), the veteran goalkeeper of the Indian national team. Since her debut in 2009, the 35-year-old Arjuna Awardee has become a mainstay of Indian hockey, earning the nickname “The Great Wall of India” for her heroic performance during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Completing this group of distinguished awardees is Dr Prem Lal Gautam, a champion of agricultural biodiversity. Born in Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh, the distinguished agricultural scientist is an expert in crop variety improvement. An alumnus of Himachal Agriculture College, Solan, he earned his PhD in genetics from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) in New Delhi. Dr Gautam is credited with the development and improvement of 12 crop varieties, including bread wheat, foxtail millet, soybean, and buckwheat. His career is defined by his role in augmenting plant germplasm for the National Gene Bank and his contributions to the National Policy Action Plan on Agrobiodiversity, continuing his service today at Dr Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University in Bihar.