Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday lamented that these days iconic status is accorded to some by event management and noted that there has been a paradigm shift with the Padma awards being conferred only to those who deserve them.

He also said former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri defined public service and stood for self-sacrifice.

"There are personalities that are not required to be sustained by event management or systemic acting. They live in our memory. They guide us, inspire us, motivate us," he said.

The vice president made these remarks while presenting the 25th Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence, 2024 here to Rajashree Birla, chairperson of the Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives and Rural Development.

"We are living in times where iconic status is accorded by event management on parameters that are baffling. People in public space are elevated to a level which is difficult to digest.

"But a paradigm shift has taken place. For instance, the Padma awards are being conferred on people who imminently deserve them. That is why the award carries a greater credibility," he told the gathering.

The very name of Lal Bahadur Shastri, Dhankhar noted, reminds one of patriotism.

"Shastri Ji defines public service. He stood for self-sacrifice. Shastri Ji exemplified by conduct and practice, not by sermonising," Dhankhar said.

He said the entire nation stood with him when India faced near-hunger crisis. He was the first one to innovate participation of the people by a clarion call.

"His clarion call was not just a call, but was generated by the then-contemporaneous scenario, a threat of unimaginable dimension," he said.