Bharat Ratna
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Bharat Ratna | ||
 |
||
| Award Information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Type | Civilian | |
| Category | General | |
| Instituted | 1954 | |
| Last Awarded | 2001 | |
| Total Awarded | 40 | |
| Awarded by | Government of India | |
| Description | An image of the Sun along with the words "Bharat Ratna", inscribed in Devanagari script, on a peepul leaf |
|
| First Awardee(s) | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan | |
| Last Awardee(s) | Ustad Bismillah Khan, Lata Mangeshkar | |
| Award Rank | ||
| None ← Bharat Ratna → Padma Vibhushan | ||
Bharat Ratna (translates to Jewel of India[1] or Gem of India[2] in English) is India's highest civilian award, awarded for the highest degrees of national service. This service includes artistic, literary, and scientific achievements, as well as "recognition of public service of the highest order."[3] Unlike knights, holders of the Bharat Ratna carry no special title nor any other honorifics, but they do have a place in the Indian order of precedence. The award was established by the first President of India, Rajendra Prasad, on January 2, 1954.[4] Along with other major national honours, such as the Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri, the awarding of the Bharat Ratna was suspended from July 13, 1977 to January 26, 1980. The honour has been awarded to forty persons, a list which includes two non-Indians and a naturalized Indian citizen. Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh are the states with the most number of awardees (8 each). Originally, the specifications for the award called for a circular gold medal carrying the state emblem and motto, among other things. It is uncertain if a design in accordance with the original specifications was ever made. The actual award is designed in the shape of a peepul leaf and carries the Hindi-written words "Bharat Ratna" on the front. The reverse side of the medal carries the state emblem and motto. The award is attached to a two-inch long ribbon, and was designed to be worn around the recipient's neck.
Contents |
[edit] History
The order was established by Dr Rajendra Prasad, President of India, on January 2, 1954. The original statutes of January 1954 did not make allowance for posthumous awards (and this perhaps explains why the decoration was never awarded to Mahatma Gandhi), though this provision was added in the January 1955 statute. Subsequently, there have been ten posthumous awards, including the award to Subhash Chandra Bose in 1992, which was later withdrawn due to a legal technicality, the only case of an award being withdrawn. The award was briefly suspended from July 13, 1977 to January 26, 1980.
While there was no formal provision that recipients of the Bharat Ratna should be Indian citizens, this seems to have been the general assumption. There has been one award to a naturalized Indian citizen — Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, better known as Mother Teresa (1980); and two to non-Indians — Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1987) and Nelson Mandela (1990). The awarding of this honour though, has frequently been the subject of litigation questioning the constitutional basis of such.
[edit] Controversies
[edit] Award to Subhas Chandra Bose
Indian freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was awarded Bharat Ratna posthumously in 1992. The award was later withdrawn due to a legal technicality. This is the only case of an award being withdrawn. It was withdrawn in response to a Supreme Court of India directive following a Public Interest Litigation filed in the Court against the “posthumous” nature of the award. The Award Committee could not give conclusive evidence of Bose’s death and thus it invalidated the “posthumous” award.
[edit] Award to Abul Kalam Azad
When the award was offered to freedom fighter and India's first Minister of Education, Abul Kalam Azad, he promptly declined it saying that it should not be given to those, who have been on selection committee [5].
[edit] Specifications
The original specifications for the award called for a circular gold medal, 35 mm in diameter, with the sun and the Hindi legend "Bharat Ratna" above and a floral wreath below. The reverse was to carry the state emblem and motto. It was to be worn around the neck from a white ribbon. There is no indication that any specimens of this design were ever produced and one year later the design was altered.
[edit] Complete list of the Awardees
| S.No | Name | Birth / death | Awarded | Notes | Indian state or country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan | 1888–1975 | 1954 | Second President, First Vice President, Philosopher. | Tamil Nadu | |
| 2. | Chakravarti Rajagopalachari | 1878–1972 | 1954 | Last Governor-General, Freedom Fighter. | Tamil Nadu | |
| 3. | Sir C. V. Raman | 1888–1970 | 1954 | Nobel-prize winning Physicist | Tamil Nadu | |
| 4. | Bhagwan Das | 1869–1958 | 1955 | Literature, Freedom Fighter | Uttar Pradesh | |
| 5. | Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya | 1861–1962 | 1955 | Civil Engineer | Karnataka | |
| 6. | Jawaharlal Nehru | 1889–1964 | 1955 | First Prime Minister, Freedom Fighter, Author. | Uttar Pradesh | |
| 7. | Govind Ballabh Pant | 1887–1961 | 1957 | Freedom Fighter, Home Minister | Uttar Pradesh | |
| 8. | Dhondo Keshav Karve | 1858–1962 | 1958 | Educationist, Social Reformer, Awarded in his birth centenary year. | Maharashtra | |
| 9. | Dr. B. C. Roy | 1882–1962 | 1961 | Physician, Politician, Former Chief Minister of West Bengal | West Bengal | |
| 10. | Purushottam Das Tandon | 1882–1962 | 1961 | Freedom Fighter, Educationist | Uttar Pradesh | |
| 11. | Dr. Rajendra Prasad | 1884–1963 | 1962 | First President, Freedom Fighter, Jurist | Bihar | |
| 12. | Dr. Zakir Hussain | 1897–1969 | 1963 | Former President, Scholar. | Andhra Pradesh | |
| 13. | Pandurang Vaman Kane | 1880–1972 | 1963 | Indologist and Sanskrit scholar | Maharashtra | |
| 14. | Lal Bahadur Shastri | 1904–1966 | 1966 | Posthumous, Second Prime Minister, Freedom Fighter | Uttar Pradesh | |
| 15. | Indira Gandhi | 1917–1984 | 1971 | Former Prime Minister | Uttar Pradesh | |
| 16. | V. V. Giri | 1894–1980 | 1975 | Former President, Trade Unionist. | Andhra Pradesh | |
| 17. | K. Kamaraj | 1903–1975 | 1976 | Posthumous, Freedom Fighter, Chief Minister-Tamil Nadu. | Tamil Nadu | |
| 18. | Mother Teresa | 1910–1997 | 1980 | Nobel Laureate (Peace, 1979). | West Bengal | |
| 19. | Acharya Vinoba Bhave | 1895–1982 | 1983 | Posthumous, Social Reformer, Freedom Fighter. | Maharashtra | |
| 20. | Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan | 1890–1988 | 1987 | First non-citizen, Freedom Fighter. | Pakistan | |
| 21. | M. G. Ramachandran | 1917–1987 | 1988 | Posthumous, Chief Minister-Tamil Nadu, Actor. | Tamil Nadu | |
| 22. | B. R. Ambedkar | 1891–1956 | 1990 | Posthumous, Architect-Indian Constitution | Maharashtra | |
| 23. | Nelson Mandela | b. 1918 | 1990 | Second non-citizen and first non-Indian, Leader of Anti-Apartheid movement. | South Africa | |
| 24. | Rajiv Gandhi | 1944–1991 | 1991 | Posthumous, Former Prime Minister | New Delhi | |
| 25. | Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel | 1875–1950 | 1991 | Posthumous, Freedom Fighter, First Home Minister of India. | Gujarat | |
| 26. | Morarji Desai | 1896–1995 | 1991 | Former Prime Minister, Freedom Fighter. | Gujarat | |
| 27. | Maulana Abul Kalam Azad | 1888–1958 | 1992 | Posthumous, Freedom Fighter, First Education Minister of India | West Bengal | |
| 28. | J. R. D. Tata | 1904–1993 | 1992 | Industrialist and philanthropist. | Maharashtra | |
| 29. | Satyajit Ray | 1922–1992 | 1992 | Film Director ,Oscar winner | West Bengal | |
| 30. | A.P.J. Abdul Kalam | b. 1931 | 1997 | Former President, Scientist. | Tamil Nadu | |
| 31. | Gulzarilal Nanda | 1898–1998 | 1997 | Freedom Fighter, former Prime Minister. | Punjab | |
| 32. | Aruna Asaf Ali | 1908–1996 | 1997 | Posthumous, Freedom Fighter. | West Bengal | |
| 33. | M. S. Subbulakshmi | 1916–2004 | 1998 | Classical singer. | Tamil Nadu | |
| 34. | Chidambaram Subramaniam | 1910–2000 | 1998 | Freedom Fighter, Minister of Agriculture (Father of Green revolution). | Tamil Nadu | |
| 35. | Jayaprakash Narayan | 1902–1979 | 1998 | Posthumous, Freedom Fighter, Social Reformer. | Bihar | |
| 36. | Pandit Ravi Shankar | b. 1920 | 1999 | Classical sitar player. | Uttar Pradesh | |
| 37. | Amartya Sen | b. 1933 | 1999 | Nobel Laureate (Economics, 1998), Economist. | West Bengal | |
| 38. | Gopinath Bordoloi | 1890–1950 | 1999 | Posthumous, freedom fighter | Assam | |
| 39. | Lata Mangeshkar | b. 1929 | 2001 | Play back singer. | Maharashtra | |
| 40. | Ustad Bismillah Khan | 1916-2006 | 2001 | Classical Shehnai Maestro | Bihar |
[edit] External links
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
