The 15th edition of the Sansad Ratna Awards 2025 was held at Maharashtra Sadan in New Delhi, honouring outstanding Members of Parliament (MPs) and parliamentary committees for their exemplary performance in the 18th Lok Sabha. The ceremony aimed to recognise and honour the exceptional Parliamentarians and Committees of the 18th Lok Sabha.
Seventeen individual Parliamentarians from both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha along with two Parliamentary Standing Committees, received the prestigious Sansad Ratna Awards this year, spanning across three distinct categories. The nominations were made by the Jury Committee, chaired by Shri Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, Chairman of the National Commission for Backwards Classes (NCBC), a constitutional authority holding the rank of Union Cabinet Minister. The Awards were presented to the winners during the 15th edition of the Sansad Ratna Awards ceremony by the Chief Guest Shri Kiren Rijuju, Hon’ble Union Cabinet Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Minority Affairs, Shri Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, Shri Bhartruhari Mahtab, Co-Chair of the Jury, Shri T S Krishnamurthy, former Chief Election Commissioner and Shri K Srinivasan, Founder Prime Point.
Background of the Awards
The Sansad Ratna Awards were instituted in 2010 by Prime Point Foundation and the eMagazine PreSense, following the suggestion of Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Dr Kalam also inaugurated the first award ceremony in Chennai in May 2010. Notably, Shri Hansraj Gangaram Ahir was the first recipient of the award. The awards are presented on behalf of civil society.
As of 2024, 125 awards have been presented across 14 award ceremonies, recognising individual Parliamentarians and Parliamentary Standing Committees. 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.
Individual Awards
This year, 17 individual awards were conferred, including four Special Awards by the Chairman of the Jury Committee, recognising “Outstanding and Consistent Contribution to Parliamentary Democracy”.
These Special Awards were presented to Bhartruhari Mahtab (BJP, Odisha), N.K. Premachandran (RSP, Kerala), Supriya Sule (NCP SP, Maharashtra), Shrirang Appa Barne (Shiv Sena, Maharashtra) and these four Members of Parliament were top performers during the 16th and 17th Lok Sabha terms and continue their top performance in the 18th Lok Sabha also.
Other Awardees from Maharashtra are Smita Uday Wagh (BJP), Arvind Ganpat Sawant (Shiv Sena UBT), Naresh Ganpat Mhaske (Shiv Sena), Prof. Gaikwad Varsha Eknath (Indian National Congress), Dr. Medha Vishram Kulkarni (BJP).
From other States, Praveen Patel and Ravindra Kishan Shukla alias Ravi Kishan (both BJP) are from Uttar Pradesh, Dr. Nishikant Dubey and Bidyut Baran Mahato (both BJP) are from Jharkhand, P.P. Chaudhary and Madan Rathore (both BJP) are from Rajasthan, C.N. Annadurai (DMK) represents Tamil Nadu, Dilip Saikia (BJP, Assam).
Under the Individual category, this year Maharashtra bagged 7 Awards; Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Rajasthan bag 2 awards each; Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam bag one award each.
Awards to Standing Committees
Two Departmentally Related Standing Committees have also been awarded for their exceptional performance based on their reports presented to Parliament. Standing Committee on Finance, chaired by Bhartruhari Mahtab (BJP, Odisha), Standing Committee on Agriculture, chaired by Dr Charanjit Singh Channi (Indian National Congress, Punjab).
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Kiren Rijuju, Union Cabinet Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Minority Affairs said, “Sansad Ratna Awards is a commendable initiative by Prime Point Foundation to recognise the excellent performance of Members of Parliament, which strengthens parliamentary democracy”.
