New Delhi, April 29 : President Droupadi Murmu presented 4 Padma Vibhushan, 10 Padma Bhushan, and 57 Padma Shri Awards for the year 2025 at the Civil Investiture Ceremony-I held in Ganatantra Mandap of the Rashtrapati Bhawan on April 28, 2025.
The President of India conferred Padma Shri to Prof. David R. Syiemlieh from Meghalaya in the field of Literature and Education during the ceremony.
The Vice President of India, Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Amit Shah, and other dignitaries were present.
The Padma Awardees will pay homage at the National War Memorial tomorrow morning, April 29, 2025. They will also visit Rashtrapati Bhawan and Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya.
Prof. David R. Syiemlieh is a scholar of the history and culture of Northeast India and former Chairman of the UPSC. Born on 22nd January 1953 in Mutrapore, Sibsagar, Assam, he graduated with Honours in History in 1974 from St. Edmund’s College, Shillong. He earned an M. Phil in 1980 and a Ph.D in 1985 from the North-Eastern Hill University.
Prof. Syiemlieh taught at St. Edmund’s College (1977-1979) and NEHU (1979-2012), holding positions such as Dean Students’ Welfare, Head of the Department of History, Controller of Examinations, Registrar, and Pro-Vice-Chancellor. He was appointed Vice-Chancellor of Rajiv Gandhi University, Arunachal Pradesh in October 2011. In 2012, he joined the Union Public Service Commission, becoming its Chairman in 2017.
Prof. Syiemlieh’s first book, ‘British Administration in Meghalaya: Policy and Pattern,’ established him as a scholar of the history and culture of Meghalaya and the North East. His other works include ‘Survey of Research in History on North East India 1970-1990,’ and the edited volume ‘Early States in North East India’ (with J. B. Bhattacharjee). His more recent publications are ‘On the Edge of Empire: Four British Plans for North East India’ and ‘Layers of History: Essays on the Khasi-Jaintias.’
He coordinated the research, editing, and publication of ‘Meghalaya at Fifty 1972-2022,’ launched on 21 January 2022, the fiftieth anniversary of Meghalaya’s statehood. Prof. Syiemlieh is also credited with discovering the date of death and other details of U Tirot Sing, a chief who resisted British expansion in the Khasi hills.
Prof. Syiemlieh has received several scholarships and fellowships, including a Government of India Post Graduate Scholarship, a Senior Fulbright Fellowship, a Charles Wallace Grant, and an Indo-France Cultural Exchange Grant. He was elected President of the NEIHA in 2010-2011 and served on the councils of the Indian Council of Historical Research and the Indian Council of Social Science Research. He was elected President of the Modern India Section, Indian History Congress at its 73rd session, Bombay University in January 2013. He serves on the academic councils and boards of management of several universities and is currently Adviser to the Meghalaya State Education Commission.
