106 recipients have been conferred the National Award for Public Service.

During the official reception to mark the National Unity Day, held at the Republic Square on Sunday evening, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih presented the badges and shields honoring the long-serving public employees.

The National Award for Public Service mirrors the prestigious National Award of Honor and is presented to those who have served for the nation for over 35 years and this is the first year it is being conferred.

Two of the recipients have been serving for the public for over 50 years; Magistrate (Retired) Idrees Adam native to Uligan Island of Haa Alifu Atoll and Ambassador-at-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Saleem.

President Solih congratulated the winners of the awards during the ceremony.

The National Awards Committee selected the recipients. Out of the 106 recipients, 26 were women.

The honorees included public servants who serve the nation in various capacities, including servicemen from the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF), Maldives Police Service (MPS), and other uniformed services. The ‘National Award for Public Service’ recognizes the different achievements of nominees and the quality of their work as well as contributions towards the development of their respective fields will be taken into consideration. Similar to the “National Award of Honor”, it also recognizes the individual achievements of nominees.

The new award was introduced by President Solih during a meeting with his Cabinet of Ministers on February 23, with the intention of recognizing and awarding those who have contributed significantly to the public sector.

The government in September announced the decision to confer this year’s National Awards for Public Service on two separate occasions after deliberations with the National Awards Committee as the president did not find it reasonable for the awards to be conferred to so many recipients at the same time. With this the decision was reached to confer awards during the Republic Day and National Unity Day celebrations, separately.

During the official reception to mark the 54th Republic Day of the Maldives in November, 117 recipients were conferred the National Award for Public Service.

The reception saw a minute of silence observed in remembrance of the lives lost during the Indian Ocean tsunami of 26 December 2004.

A special video report on the exemplary services of the late Umar Zahir, honoree of the Order of the Distinguished Rule of Izzuddin, was also featured at the function.