The Maharashtra Bhushan is a highest and prestigious award presented annually by the government of Maharashtra

Maharashtra

Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...

 state in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

.

When the Shivsena- BJP alliance came to power in 1995, it proposed to institute this award.The Mahrashtra Bhushan was first awarded in 1996. It was initially conferred in every years in the fields of Literature

Literature

Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...

, Art

Art

Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....

, Sport

Sport

A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...

, and Science

Science

Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...

. Later the fields of Social Work

Social work

Social Work is a professional and academic discipline that seeks to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of an individual, group, or community by intervening through research, policy, community organizing, direct practice, and teaching on behalf of those afflicted with poverty or any real or...

, Journalism

Journalism

Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...

, and Public Administration

Public administration

Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....

 and Health Services were included. The award is presented for outstanding achievement in their field.

Prize and selection

At present, the award carries a cash prize of 5 lakh

Lakh

A lakh is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand . It is widely used both in official and other contexts in Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and is often used in Indian English.-Usage:...

, a momento and citation. The winners are selected by a committee appointed of the Government of Maharashtra.

Recipients

The recipients of the Maharashtra Bhushan award are as follows

Year	Name	Field
1996	Pu La Deshpande	Literature
1997	Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar is a singer from India. She is one of the best-known and most respected playback singers in India. Mangeshkar's career started in 1942 and has spanned over six and a half decades. She has recorded songs for over a thousand Hindi films and has sung songs in over thirty-six regional...	Arts, Music
1999	Vijay Bhatkar	Science
2001	Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is an Indian cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the leading run-scorer and century maker in Test and one-day international cricket. He is the only male player to score a double century in the history of ODI cricket...	Sports
2002	Bhimsen Joshi Bhimsen Joshi Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi ; February 4, 1922 - January 24, 2011) was an Indian vocalist in the Hindustani classical tradition. A member of the Kirana Gharana , he is renowned for the khayal form of singing, as well as for his popular renditions of devotional music...	Arts, Music
2003	Abhay and Rani Bang	Medical Services
2004	Baba Amte Baba Amte Murlidhar Devidas Amte, popularly known as Baba Amte was an Indian social worker and social activist known particularly for his work for the rehabilitation and empowerment of poor people suffering from leprosy....	Social Work
2005	Raghunath Anant Mashelkar Raghunath Anant Mashelkar Raghunath Anant Mashelkar is also known as Ramesh Mashelkar. He is the former Director General of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research , a chain of 38 publicly funded industrial research and development institutions in India....	Science
2006	Ratan Tata Ratan Tata Ratan Naval Tata is the present chairman of Tata Sons and therefore, Tata Group. Also, he is one among the few in the world...	Public Administration
2007	R K Patil	Social Work
2008	Nana Dharmadhikari Nana Dharmadhikari Nanasaheb Dharmadhikari , the spiritual guru had a Sanstha at Revdanda town of the Raigad district....	Social Work
2008	Mangesh Padgaonkar	Literature
2009	Sulochana Devi Sulochana Devi Sulochana Devi , mostly known by her screen name Sulochana, is a well-known actress of Marathi and Hindi cinema, who is most known for her performances in 250 Marathi films, like Vahinichya Bangdya, Meeth Bhakar and Dhakti Jau, in Hindi cinema, she epitomized 'mother' roles, as did Nirupa Roy in...	Art, Cinma .
2010	Jayant Narlikar	Science .