On behalf of the late Koirala, his daughter and former Deputy Prime Minister Sujata Koirala received the honour. This is the highest civilian award given to a Nepali citizen since Nepal became a republic and Koirala is the first recipient. The five-time PM was the acting head of state between January 2007 and July 2008. He made substantive contribution to Nepal’s road to republicanism and was an architect of the ongoing peace and constitution drafting processes. The decoration is an octagon having an 8.5cm diameter and bejewelled with five diamond pieces on each corner.

At Sheetal Niwas, President Yadav presented Mahaujjwal Rashtradeep (first class) to former Cabinet Chairman Khil Raj Regmi, former Deputy Prime Minister Shailaja Acharya and former minister Bhim Bahadur Tamang (both posthumous).

Former ministers Madhav Prasad Ghimire, Modnath Prashrit, Riddhibaba Pradhan, Bidyadhar Mallik, Madhav Prasad Paudel, Shanker Koirala, Chhabiraj Panta, Tek Bahadur Thapa Gharti, Ram Kumar Shrestha and Umakanta Jha were decorated with the Ujjwal Kirtimaya Rashtradeep (second class).

The President also presented Supreme Court Justice Kalyan Shrestha, Chief Election Commissioner Neel Kantha Uprety, Secretary General of Legislature-Parliament Manohar Prasad Bhattarai, Chairman of High-Level Administration Reform Suggestions Implementation Monitoring Committee Kashiraj Dahal, election commissioners Dolakh Bahadur Gurung, Ayodhee Prasad Yadav and Ila Sharma and ex-official Ram Bhakta PB Thakur with the award.

Other recipients of several other honours from the social sector include Pushpa Basnet, Prof Dharmendra Kumar Karna, Prof Indra Prasad Tiwari, Nepali Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Udaya Raj Pandey, Nepal Television Chairman Neer Shah, musician Sambhujeet Baskota, academician Ram Krishna Duwal, lyricist Shyam Tamot, artists Haridevi Koirala, Komal Oli and Tika Pun; littérateurs Shanti Chaudhary, Swami Krishna Dasji Maharaj; player Bharat Bahadur Bisural and writers Aarati Chataut and Pratap Bista.

The awards were announced on May 29 last year by the incumbent government.