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Bharat Ratna Award – History & Winners

admin February 23, 2023

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Bharat Ratna Award

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Bharat Ratna Award – Highest Civilian Award

Bharat Ratna – ‘Jewel of India’ is the highest civilian award of the country.
It is conferred in recognition of exceptional Service to the nation in various fields such as Science, Arts, Literature and Public Service of the highest order without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex.
The government expanded the criteria to include “any field of human endeavour” in December 2011.
It was instituted in the year 1954.
The first recipients of the Bharat Ratna Award were – the last Governor General of the India – C. Rajagopalachari, second President and the first Vice President of India – Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, and Nobel Prize Laureate, Physicist C. V. Raman, who were honoured in 1954.
Till now there are 48 individuals, including 16 who were awarded posthumously by this Award.

History of Bharat Ratna

The Bharat Ratna Award was established by former President of India Rajendra Prasad on 2nd January 1954.
Maximum 3 people awarded at once in one year.
The concept of awarding this award posthumously was not there in the original statute declared in January 1954.
Provision to award posthumously was finally added in January 1966 statute of this prestigious award.

Specification of Bharat Ratna Medal

The current medal is in the shape of a Peepal Leaf, approximately 59 mm long, 48 mm wide and 3.2 mm thick and rimmed in platinum.
The embossed sun burst design, made of platinum, on the obverse side of the medal has a diameter of 16 mm with rays spreading out from 21 mm to 13 mm from the centre of the Sun.
The words “Bharat Ratna” on the obverse side and the emblem of India and “Satyameva Jayate” on the reverse side is engrossed in Devanagari script.
A 2 inch wide (51 mm) white ribbon is attached to the medal so it can be worn around the neck.
In 1957, the silver-gilt decoration was changed to burnished bronze.
The Bharat Ratna Award medals are produced at Alipore Mint, Kolkata.

Who are Eligible to get Bharat Ratna?

The award was initially restricted to accomplishments in the literature, science, arts, and public services, but the government of India expanded the conditions to comprise “any field of human endeavour” in 2011.
There is no written provision that Bharat Ratna should be awarded to Indian citizens only.
Recently Government of India has altered guidelines for eligibility of persons from the sports field for the Bharat Ratna.

Recommendation for Award

The recommendations for Bharat Ratna are made by the Prime Minister to the President.
The number of yearly awards is constrained to a maximum of 3 in a specific year.

Entitlements of Award

In terms of Article 18 (1) of the Constitution, the award cannot be used as a prefix or suffix to the recipient’s name.
Bharat Ratna cannot be used as a prefix or suffix, however, receivers may recognise themselves as “Recipient of Bharat Ratna Award”. The award does not carry any monetary benefits, but there numerous distinctive privileges which comprise –
- - - The medallion and miniature
    - A Sanad (certificate) signed by the President of India.
    - Treatment as a state guests by state governments when traveling within a state.
    - Indian missions abroad requested to facilitate recipients when requested.
    - Entitlement to a diplomatic passport.
    - Lifetime free executive class travel on Air India.
    - Placed 7a in the Indian order of precedence.

Bharat Ratna Award Winners List

Year	Name	Place	Brief Description
1954	C. Rajagopalachari	Tamil Nadu	An Indian independence activist, statesman, and lawyer, Rajagopalachari was the only Indian and last Governor-General of independent India. He was Chief Minister of Madras State (1952–54); and founder of the Indian political party Swatantra Party.
1954	Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan	Andhra Pradesh	He served as India’s first Vice-President (1952–62) and second President (1962–67). Since 1962, his birthday on 5 September is observed as “Teachers’ Day” in India.
1954	C. V. Raman	Tamil Nadu	Widely known for his work on the scattering of light and the discovery of the effect, better known as “Raman scattering”, Raman mainly worked in the field of atomic physics and electromagnetism and was presented Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930.
1955	Bhagwan Das	Uttar Pradesh	Independence activist, philosopher, and educationist, and co-founder of Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapithand worked with Madan Mohan Malaviya for the foundation of Banaras Hindu University.
1955	Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya	Karnataka	Civil engineer, statesman, and Diwan of Mysore (1912–18), he was a Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire. His birthday, 15 September, is observed as “Engineer’s Day” in India.
1955	Jawaharlal Nehru	Uttar Pradesh	Independence activist and author, Nehru is the first and the longest-serving Prime Minister of India (1947–64).
1957	Govind Ballabh Pant	Uttar Pradesh	Independent activist Pant was premier of United Provinces (1937–39, 1946–50) and first Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh (1950–54). He served as Union Home Minister from 1955–61.
1958	Dhondo Keshav Karve	Maharashtra	Social reformer and educator, Karve is widely known for his works related to women’s education and remarriage of Hindu widows. He established the Widow Marriage Association (1883), Hindu Widows Home (1896), and started Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey Women’s University in 1916.
1961	Bidhan Chandra Roy	West Bengal	A physician, political leader, philanthropist, educationist, and social worker, Roy is often considered as “Maker of Modern West Bengal”. He was the second Chief Minister of West Bengal (1948–62) and his birthday on 1 July is observed as National Doctors’ Day in India.
1961	Purushottam Das Tandon	Uttar Pradesh	Often titled “Rajarshi”, Tandon was an independence activist and served as speaker of the United Provinces Legislative Assembly (1937–50). He was actively involved in a campaign to get official language status to Hindi.
1962	Rajendra Prasad	Bihar	Independence activist, lawyer, statesman, and scholar, Prasad was closely associated with Mahatma Gandhi in the non-cooperation movement for Indian independence. He was later elected as the first President of India (1950–62).
1963	Pandurang Vaman Kane	Maharashtra	Indologist and Sanskrit scholar, Kane is best known for his five-volume literary work, History of Dharmasastra: Ancient and Medieval Religious and Civil Law in India; the “monumental” work that extends over nearly 6,500 pages and was published from 1930 to 1962.
1963	Zakir Hussain	Andhra Pradesh	Independence activist, economist, and education philosopher, Husain served as a Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University (1948–56) and the Governor of Bihar (1957–62). Later, he was elected as second Vice-President of India (1962–67) and went on to become the third President of India (1967–69).
1966	Lal Bahadur Shastri	Uttar Pradesh	Known for his slogan “Jai Jawan Jai Kisan”. Independence activist Shastri served as second Prime Minister of India (1964–66) and led the country during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.
1971	Indira Gandhi	Uttar Pradesh	Known as the “Iron Lady of India”, Gandhi was the Prime Minister of India during 1966–77 and 1980–84. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, her government supported the Bangladesh Liberation War which led to the formation of a new country, Bangladesh.
1975	V. V. Giri (1975)	Odisha	While studying at the University College Dublin, Giri was involved in the Irish Sinn Fein movement. He was elected as the first President of the All India Trade Union Congress in 1926. Post-independence, Giri held positions of Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Mysore and various other cabinet ministries. He became the first acting President and was eventually elected as the fourth President of India (1969–74).
1976	K. Kamaraj (Posthumous)	Tamil Nadu	Independence activist and statesman Kamaraj was a former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for three terms; 1954–57, 1957–62, and 1962–63.
1980	Mother Teresa	West Bengal/ Albania	“Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta” was a catholic nun and the founder of the Missionaries of Charity. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her humanitarian work in 1979 and was beatified on 19 October 2003 by Pope John Paul II and canonized on 4 September 2016 by Pope Francis.
1983	Vinoba Bhave (Posthumous)	Maharastra	Independence activist, social reformer, and a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi, Bhave is best known for his Bhoodan movement. He was given the honorific title “Acharya” and was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award (1958) for his humanitarian work.
1987	Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan	Pakistan	Widely known as “Frontier Gandhi”, independence activist and Pashtun leader Khan was a follower of Mahatma Gandhi. He joined Khilafat Movement in 1920 and founded Khudai Khidmatgar in 1929.
1988	M. G. Ramachandran	Tamil Nadu	Actor turned politician Ramachandran served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for three terms; 1977–80, 1980–84, and 1985–87.
1990	Nelson Mandela	South Africa	Leader of the Anti-Apartheid Movement in South Africa, Mandela was the President of South Africa (1994–99). Often called the “Gandhi of South Africa”, Mandela’s African National Congress movement was influenced by Gandhian philosophy. In 1993, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
1990	B. R. Ambedkar (Posthumous)	Madhya Pradesh	Social reformer. Ambedkar was the Chief architect of the Indian Constitution and also served as the first Law Minister of India. He was associated with the Dalit Buddhist movement and accepted Buddhism as a religion along with his close to half a million followers on 14 October 1956.
1991	Morarji Desai	Gujarat	Independence activist Desai was the sixth Prime Minister of India (1977–79). He is the only Indian national to be awarded the Nishan-e-Pakistan, the highest civilian award given by the Government of Pakistan.
1991	Vallabh bhai Patel (Posthumous)	Gujarat	Widely known as the “Iron Man of India”, Patel was an independence activist and first Deputy Prime Minister of India (1947–50). Post-independence, “Sardar” Patel worked with V. P. Menon towards dissolving 555 princely states into the Indian union.
1991	Rajiv Gandhi (Posthumous)	Uttar Pradesh	Gandhi was the ninth Prime Minister of India serving from 1984 to 1989.
1992	Satyajit Ray	West Bengal	Having debuted as a director with Pather Panchali (1955), film-maker Ray is credited with bringing world recognition to Indian cinema. In 1984, Ray was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India’s highest award in cinema.
1992	J. R. D. Tata	Maharashtra	Industrialist, philanthropist, and aviation pioneer, Tata founded India’s first airline Air India. He is the founder of various institutes including Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Tata Memorial Hospital, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Tata Motors, TCS, National Institute of Advanced Studies, and National Centre for the Performing Arts.
1992	Abul Kalam Azad (Posthumous)	West Bengal	Independence activist Azad was India’s first Minister of Education and worked towards free primary education. He was widely known as “Maulana Azad” and his birthday on 11 November is observed as National Education Day in India.
1997	Aruna Asaf Ali	West Bengal	Independence activist Ali is better known for hoisting the Indian flag in Bombay during the Quit India Movement in 1942. Post-Independence, Ali was elected as Delhi’s first mayor in 1958.
1997	Gulzarilal Nanda	Punjab	Independence activist Nanda was two times interim Prime Minister of India (1964, 1966) and two times deputy chairman of the Planning Commission.
1997	A. P. J. Abdul Kalam	Tamil Nadu	Aerospace and defence scientist, Kalam was involved in the development of India’s first satellite launch vehicle SLV III and was the architect of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program. He worked for Indian National Committee for Space Research, Indian Space Research Organisation, Defence Research and Development Laboratory and was appointed as the Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister, Secretary to Department of Defence Research and Development and Director General of Defence Research and Development Organisation. Later, he served as the eleventh President of India from 2002 till 2007.
1998	Jay Prakash Narayan	Bihar	Independence activist, social reformer, and commonly referred to as “Lok Nayak”, Narayan is better known for “Total Revolution Movement” or “JP Movement” initiated during the mid-1970s to “overthrow the corrupt and exploitative Congress government”.
1998	Chidambaram Subramaniam	Tamil Nadu	Independence activist and former Minister of Agriculture of India (1964–66), Subramaniam is known for his contribution towards Green Revolution in India. During the late 1970s, he worked for International Rice Research Institute, Manila, and the International Maize and Wheat Research Institute, Mexico.
1998	M. S. Subbulakshmi	Tamil Nadu	Carnatic classical vocalist Subbulakshmi also called “Queen of songs”, is the first Indian musician to receive the Ramon Magsaysay award.
1999	Gopinath Bordoloi (Posthumous)	Assam	Independence activist Bordoloi is the first Chief Minister of Assam (1946–50). His efforts and association with the then Minister of Home Affairs Vallabhbhai Patel were widely acknowledged while keeping Assam united with India when parts of it were to merge with East Pakistan.
1999	Amartya Sen	West Bengal	Winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (1998), Sen has done research on several topics including social choice theory, ethics and political philosophy, welfare economics, decision theory, development economics, public health, and gender studies.
1999	Ravi Shankar	West Bengal	Winner of four Grammy Awards and often considered “the world’s best-known exponent of Hindustani classical music”, sitar player Shankar is known for his collaborative work with Western musicians including Yehudi Menuhin and George Harrison.
2001	Bismillah Khan	Bihar	Hindustani classical shehnai player, Khan played the instrument for more than eight decades and is credited to have brought the instrument to the centre stage of Indian music.
2001	Lata Mangeshkar	Maharashtra	Widely credited as the “nightingale of India”, playback singer Mangeshkar started her career in the 1940s and has sung songs in over 36 languages. In 1989, Mangeshkar was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India’s highest award in cinema.
2009	Bhimsen Joshi	Karnataka	Hindustani classical vocalist, Joshi was a disciple of Kirana Gharana, an Indian musical school. He is widely known for the Khyal genre of singing with a “mastery over rhythm and accurate notes”.
2014	Sachin Tendulkar	Maharashtra	He played 664 international cricket matches in a career spanning over two decades. He holds various cricket records including the only player to have scored one hundred international centuries, the first batsman to score a double century in a One Day International and the only player to complete more than 30,000 runs in both ODI and Test cricket.
2014	C. N. R. Rao	Karnataka	The recipient of Honorary Doctorates from 63 Universities including Purdue, IIT Bombay, Oxford, chemist and professor Rao has worked prominently in the fields of Solid State and Materials Chemistry, Spectroscopy and Molecular Structure. He has authored around 1600 research papers and 48 books.
2015	Madan Mohan Malaviya (Posthumous)	Uttar Pradesh	Scholar and educational reformer Malaviya is a founder of Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha (1906) and Banaras Hindu University and served as the university’s vice-chancellor from 1919 till 1938. He was the President of the Indian National Congress for four terms and was the Chairman of the Hindustan Times from 1924 to 1946.
2015	Atal Bihari Vajpayee	Madhya Pradesh	Parliamentarian for over four decades, Vajpayee was elected nine times to the Lok Sabha, twice to the Rajya Sabha and served as the Prime Minister of India for three terms; 1996, 1998, 1999–2004. He was Minister of External Affairs during 1977–79 and was awarded the “Best Parliamentarian” in 1994.
2019	Pranab Mukherjee	West Bengal	He is an Indian politician who served as the 13th President of India from 2012 until 2017. He has been a senior leader in the Indian National Congress and has occupied several ministerial portfolios in the Government of India. Prior to his election as President, he was Union Finance Minister from 2009 to 2012.
2019	Bhupen Hazarika (Posthumous)	Assam	He was an Indian playback singer, lyricist, musician, singer, poet and film-maker from Assam, widely known as Sudhakantha. He also received the National Film Award for Best Music Direction in 1975. Recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1987), Padmashri (1977), and Padmabhushan (2001), and also awarded with Dada Saheb Phalke Award (1992).
2019	Nanaji Deshmukh (Posthumous)	Maharashtra	He was a social activist from India. He worked in the fields of education, health, and rural self-reliance. He was a member of RSS, a leader of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, and also a member of the Rajya Sabha. He was honoured with the Padma Vibhushan in 1999. India’s first Saraswati Shishu Mandir was established by him at Gorakhpur in 1950.

Some Interesting Facts about Bharat Ratan

The first recipients of the Bharat Ratna were – the last Governor General of the India – C. Rajagopalachari, second President and the first Vice President of India – Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, and Nobel Prize Laureate, Physicist C. V. Raman, who were honoured in 1954.
Former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri became the first individual to be honoured posthumously.
In 2014, cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, then aged 40, became the youngest recipient and First Sportsperson to receive the award.
The first singer to be awarded Bharat Ratna was M. S. Subbulakshmi.
Though usually conferred on India-born citizens, the Bharat Ratna has been awarded to one naturalised citizen – Mother Teresa, and to two non-Indians – Abdul Ghaffar Khan (born in British India and later citizen of Pakistan) and Nelson Mandela, born in and citizen of South Africa.
A maximum of three Bharat Ratna Award can be given each year. It was awarded to four people in the same year only once in 1999.

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