The Queen’s Birthday Honours list published on 10 June 2016, on the occasion of Her Majesty’s official 90th birthday, recognises the achievements of a wide range of extraordinary people right across the United Kingdom.
Whether someone gets an honour - and the honour they get - is decided by an honours committee. The committee’s decisions go to the Prime Minister and then to the Queen, who awards the honour.
According to the Cabinet Office this has been the "most diverse" since the Order of the British Empire was founded in 1917. Women make up 47% of the total, 8.2% are from a black and minority ethnic background and 5.2% consider themselves to have a disability.
However, Vote Leave has accused David Cameron of "abusing the honours system" - pointing out 22 prominent supporters of the campaign to remain in the EU are on the list, which goes to the prime minister for approval.
But a government spokesman said the honours were unconnected to the EU referendum, adding the names were selected by independent committees "well before" the date of the vote had been announced, and also included prominent supporters from the Leave side.
In total, 1,149 people have received an award this year:
- 1,004 candidates have been selected at BEM, MBE and OBE level. 312 at BEM, 477 at MBE and 215 at OBE
- 70% of the recipients are people who have undertaken outstanding work in their communities either in a voluntary or paid capacity
- there are 538 successful women candidates in the list, representing 47% of the total
- 8.2% of the successful candidates (90 people) come from a BAME background: the greatest ever number of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic recipients in an honours list
- 5.2% of the successful candidates consider themselves to have a disability under the Equality Act 2010
- According to our findings, there are around 40 honours recipients from the South Asian community.
Among them there is a British Asian man of Bengali origin, who has won the MBE title, becoming one of the youngest to be honoured with this title.
The list for South Asians:
Order of the British Empire
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
- Professor Usha CHARAVARTHY: Professor of Ophthalmology, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust. For services to Ophthalmology in Northern Ireland and voluntary service to Managing Eye Conditions. (Belfast)
- Bharat Maganlal MEHTA, OBE : Chief Executive Officer, Trust for London. For services to Finance in the Charitable and Voluntary Sectors. (London)
- Professor Sabera Nazneen Rahman: Head of Genetics and Epidemiology, Institute of Cancer Research and Head of Cancer Genetics, The Royal Marsden. For services to Medical Science. (London)
Order of the British Empire
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
- Shaista GOHIR, MBE: Trustee and Chair, Muslim Women's Network UK. For services to Gender Equality and Women's Rights (Birmingham, West Midlands)
- Hanif MALIK: and the community particularly in Yorkshire. (Leeds, West Yorkshire)
- Sewa Singh MANDLA: For services to the Inter-faith and Community Cohesion particularly in the Sikh community. (West Bromwich, West Midlands)
- Dr Nima POOVAYA SMITH: Founder and Director, Alchemy Anew. For services to Arts and Museums in Yorkshire. ((Leeds, West Yorkshire)
- Ms Bhanu RAMASWAMY: Independent Physiotherapy Consultant. For services to Physiotherapy. (Sheffield, South Yorkshire)
- Adil RAY: Actor, Radio and Television Presenter. For services to Broadcasting. (London)
- Dhanonday Baluji Shrivastav: Musician, Instrumentalist and Founder, Inner Vision Orchestra. For services to Music. (London)
- Dr Geetha UPADHYAYA: Co-Founder and lately Chief Executive and Artistic Director, Kala Sangam. For services to South Asian Arts in the UK. (Guiseley, West Yorkshire)
Order of the British Empire
Members of the Order of the British Empire
- Mohammed ALI: Aerosol Arabic, Street Artist. For services to Art and Community Cohesion. (Birmingham, West Midlands)
- Mohammed AMIN: Founder Member and Co-Chair, Muslim Jewish Forum of Greater Manchester. For services to Community Cohesion and Inter-faith Relations in Greater Manchester. (Whalley Range, Greater Manchester)
- Hitesh CHANDARANA: Assistant Officer, Personal Tax Operations, HM Revenue and Customs. For services to Tax Compliance (Thurmaston, Leicestershire)
- Taiyabur Rahman CHOWDHURY: Lately Adoption Social Worker, Bradford City Council. For services to Children and Families. (West Yorkshire)
- Rajeeb DEY : Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Enternships. For services to Entrepreneurship. (London)
- Romy GILL: Founder, Romy's Kitchen. For services to the Hospitality Industry. (Thornbury, Bristol)
- Iffat HAMEED, JP: Teacher, King Edward VII School, Sheffield. For services to Education and the community in Sheffield. (Sheffield, South Yorkshire)
- Santosh Kaur, Mrs JHANGIANI Executive Officer, Home Office. For services to Staff Welfare in the Home Office. (Surrey)
- Ms Ren KAPUR, Mrs Ren Raksha Wing: Founder and Chief Executive Officer, X-Forces Ltd. For services to Entrepreneurship. (Reading, Berkshire)
- Anwar KASSIM: Director, Milton Keynes Islamic Arts and Culture. For services to Inter-faith Relations and the community in Milton Keynes. (Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire)
- Gurmit KAUR: Community Cohesion Inspector, Nottinghamshire Police. For services to Policing. (Mickleover, Derbyshire)
- Bhupendra Harji MAGUDIA: Senior Executive Officer, Ministry of Defence. For services in Support of Military Training. (Nailsea, Somerset)
- Jewel MIAH: For voluntary services to British-Bengali Football. (Oldham, Lancashire)
- Usman MUNSHI, JP: For services to Community Cohesion and Engagement in Lancashire. (Lancashire)
- Rashiklal Parmar: Lead Cloud Adviser - Europe and Distinguished Engineer, IBM and Board Member, Leeds City Region LEP. For services to Innovation and Business. (Leeds, West Yorkshire)
- Mohammed Akhlak RAUF: Manager, Meri Yaadain (My Memories) Dementia Team, City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council. For services to People with Dementia and their Carers. (Bradford, West Yorkshire)
- Karmjit REKHI: Faith Officer, Metropolitan Police Service. For services to the community in Hounslow. (Middlesex)
- Nilesh SACHDEV: Lately Member, Green Construction Board. For services to Energy Efficiency and Sustainability in the Retail Sector (Sherington, Buckinghamshire)
- Harshbir Singh SANGHA : Head of Strategy, Science and Society, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. For services to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. (Kent)
- Dr Harshadray Nandlal SANGHRAJKA: For services to the community and Inter-faith Relations. (Middlesex)
- Daljit SEHBAI: For services to Social Cohesion through the National Council of British Indians. (Surrey)
- John Gurparshad SINGH: For services to charity and Disaffected Young People in East London. (Brentwood, Essex)
- Mandeep Singh SOIN: Senior Executive Officer, Border Force. For services to Diversity and Faith Awareness in the Home Office.
- Miss Kousalyaa SOMASUNDRAM: For services to Indian Dance, Ethnic Art and the community in Northern Ireland. (Belfast)
Order of the British Empire
Medallist of the Order of the British Empire
- Kishore BILIMORIA: For services to Community Sport and charity. (Middlesex)
- Kanchan CHUDASAMA: Finance Officer, the Art Fund. For services to the Arts. (London)
- Rehana KHAN: Manager, Shakti Day Centre for Asian Elders and the Bharosa Domestic Abuse Service. For services to Vulnerable People in Birmingham. (Birmingham, West Midlands)
- Shaminder Singh RAI: Chief of Operations, Nishkam High School, Birmingham. For services to Education. (Birmingham, West Midlands)
- Shahzada SALEEM: For services to the community in Studham, Bedfordshire. (Dunstable, Bedfordshire)
- Sheila Prakash SHAH: Executive Assistant, HM Treasury. For services to Public Administration. (London)
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Rajeeb Dey, who is among this year’s youngest honourees, has received the accolade in recognition of his services to entrepreneurship having previously been awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion in 2013 and being named the world’s youngest Young Global Leader in 2012 by the World Economic Forum. On receiving the award he said, “my own entrepreneurial journey started aged 17 and ever since I have been passionate about encouraging other young people to pursue more entrepreneurial careers. Through Enternships we’ve helped over 6,500 startups and fast growing businesses connect to entrepreneurial talent; hearing the stories of young people being inspired by us to launch their own ventures is a reward in itself, however to now be getting an MBE from the Queen is truly humbling.
He continued by commenting on the cultural attitudes towards jobs within parts of Asian society by saying “there is often a pressure in some Asian communities from parents for their children to follow more professional career options such as Medicine, Law, Dentistry etc. I was very fortunate that despite my dad, sister and wider relatives predominantly being Doctors, I was always encouraged to do what made me happy.”
He proceeding with a message to parents and young people by saying “I hope more parents will encourage their children to look at entrepreneurship as a viable and rewarding career path. In particularly the digital economy provides huge opportunities for enterprising people to launch new ventures and I hope to be able to inspire more people to explore the full breadth of career opportunities out there.”
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Rome Gill is the chef-owner of Romy’s Kitchen in Thornbury, South Gloucestershire. Her commitment to the restaurant and her entrepreneurial spirit has been recognised with the appointment of her MBE. Of the Honour, Romy said; “I was so surprised and overwhelmed when I received notice of my MBE. To have all the hours and hard work recognised in such a way is incredible and I’m truly delighted. I couldn’t have done this without the support and understanding of my husband and two daughters, they are very proud of me and I am so thankful. I work with a small but dedicated team at Romy’s Kitchen and this is not just recognition for me, it’s for them too. I hope this will inspire the many other talented women in the hospitality industry.”
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