Param Vir Chakra
Param Vir Chakra | |
---|---|
Param Vir Chakra and its ribbon, the highest military decoration of India | |
Awarded by India | |
Country | India |
Type | Medal |
Eligibility | Officers, men and women of all ranks of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, of any of the Reserve Forces, of the Territorial Army Militia and of any other lawfully constituted Armed Forces.[1] |
Awarded for | "Most conspicuous bravery or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice, in the presence of the enemy, whether on land, at sea, or in the air."[1] |
Status | Currently awarded |
Post-nominals | PVC |
Statistics | |
Established | 26 January 1950 |
First awarded | 3 November 1947 |
Last awarded | 6 July 1999 |
Total awarded | 21 |
Posthumous awards | 14 |
Distinct recipients | 21 |
Precedence | |
Next (higher) | Bharat Ratna[2] |
Next (lower) | Ashoka Chakra Award[2] |
The three living recipients of the Param Vir Chakra Award: Yogendra Singh Yadav, Bana Singh and Sanjay Kumar |
The Param Vir Chakra (PVC) is India's highest military decoration awarded for the highest degree of valour or self-sacrifice in the presence of the enemy. The majority of the recipients, fourteen out of twenty one, were awarded posthumously.
Literally meaning 'Wheel (or Cross) of the Ultimate Brave,[3] it is equivalent to the Medal of Honor in the United States, and the Victoria Cross in the United Kingdom.[3] The PVC was established on 26 January 1950 (Republic Day of India), by the President of India, with effect from 15 August 1947 (Independence Day of India). It can be awarded to officers or enlisted personnel from all branches of the Indian military. It is the highest gallantry award of the Government of India after Ashoka Chakra,(amendment in the statute on 26 January 1980 resulted in this order of wearing). It replaced the former British colonial Victoria Cross (VC), (see List of Indian Victoria Cross recipients).
Provision was made for the award of a bar for second (or subsequent) awards of the Param Vir Chakra, with a replica of the Vajra, the weapon of Indra, the god of heaven.[3] To date, there have been no such awards. Award of the decoration carries with it the right to use P.V.C. as a postnominal abbreviation.
The Ashoka Chakra is the peace time equivalent of the Param Vir Chakra, and is awarded for the "most conspicuous bravery or some daring or pre-eminent valour or self-sacrifice" other than in the face of the enemy. The decoration may be awarded either to military or civilian personnel and may be awarded posthumously.
The award also carries a cash allowance for those under the rank of lieutenant (or the appropriate service equivalent) and, in some cases, a cash award. On the death of the recipient, the pension is transferred to the widow until her death or remarriage. The paltry amount of the pension has been a rather controversial issue throughout the life of the decoration. The stipend stood at Rs. 10,000 per month in August 2014.[1] In addition, many states have established individual pension rewards that far exceeds the central government's stipend for the recipients of the decoration.
Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon, who was awarded the Param Vir Chakra posthumously in 1971 was only Indian Air Force officer to date have been honoured with the Param Vir Chakra.[3][4] Naib Subedar Sanjay Kumar and Subedar Yogendra Singh Yadav are the only active duty PVC recipients in the Indian Army.[5]
Design
The medal was designed by Savitri Khanolkar (born Eva Yuonne Linda Maday-de-Maros to a Hungarian father and Russian mother) who was married to an Indian Army officer, Vikram Khanolkar of Sikh Regiment.[6] This was done following a request from the first Indian Adjutant General, Major General Hira Lal Atal, who in turn had been entrusted with the responsibility of coming up with an Indian equivalent of the Victoria Cross by Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of the Indian Union. Coincidentally, the first Param Vir Chakra was awarded to her son-in-law Lt Gen Surinder Nath Sharma's (ENC) elder brother, Major Somnath Sharma for his bravery in the Kashmir operations in November 1947. He died while evicting Pakistani infiltrators and raiders from the Srinagar Airport. This was when India and newly formed Pakistan had the first war over the Kashmir issue.
The medal is a circular bronze disc 1.375 inches (3.49 cm) in diameter. The state emblem appears in the center, on a raised circle. Surrounding this, four replicas of Vajra, the all-powerful mythic weapon of Indra, the ancient Vedic King of Gods. The motif symbolizes the sacrifice Rishi Dadhichi, who had donated his bones to the Gods for making Vajra to kill demon Vritra. The Indian General Service Medal 1947 which contained the Bhavani sword was withdrawn later.[7] The decoration is suspended from a straight swiveling suspension bar. It is named on the edge. On the rear, around a plain center, are two legends separated by lotus flowers. The words Param Vir Chakra are written in Hindi and English.[8]
A purple ribbon, 32 millimetres (1.3 in) long, holds the Param Vir Chakra.
Recipients
Service Number | Rank | Name | Unit | Branch | Date | Place | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
IC-521 | Major | Somnath Sharma | 4th Battalion Kumaon Regiment | Indian Army | November 3, 1947 | Badgam Jammu & Kashmir | Posthumous |
27373 | Naik | Jadu Nath Singh | 1st Battalion Rajput Regiment | Indian Army | February 6, 1948 | Naushera Jammu & Kashmir | Posthumous |
SS-14246 | Second Lieutenant | Rama Raghoba Rane | Bombay Sappers Corps of Engineers | Indian Army | April 8, 1948 | Naushera Jammu & Kashmir | |
2831592 | Company Havildar Major | Piru Singh Shekhawat | 6th Battalion Rajputana Rifles | Indian Army | July 17, 1948 | Tithwal Jammu & Kashmir | Posthumous |
22356 | Lance Naik | Karam Singh | 1st Battalion Sikh Regiment | Indian Army | October 13, 1948 | Tithwal Jammu & Kashmir | |
IC-8947 | Captain | Gurbachan Singh Salaria | 3rd Battalion 1st Gurkha Rifles | Indian Army | December 5, 1961 | Elizabethville Katanga, Congo | Posthumous |
IC-7990 | Major | Dhan Singh Thapa | 1st Battalion 8th Gorkha Rifles | Indian Army | October 20, 1962 | Ladakh Jammu & Kashmir, India | |
JC-4547 | Subedar | Joginder Singh | 1st Battalion Sikh Regiment | Indian Army | October 23, 1962 | Tongpen La NFA, India | Posthumous |
IC-7990 | Major | Shaitan Singh | 13th Battalion Kumaon Regiment | Indian Army | November 18, 1962 | Rezang La Jammu & Kashmir | Posthumous |
2639885 | Company Quartermaster Havildar | Abdul Hamid | 4th Battalion The Grenadiers | Indian Army | September 10, 1965 | Khem Karan Sector Pakistan | Posthumous |
IC-5565 | Lieutenant-Colonel | Ardeshir Burzorji Tarapore | 17th Poona Horse | Indian Army | October 15, 1965 | Phillora Sialkot Sector, Pakistan | Posthumous |
4239746 | Lance Naik | Albert Ekka | 14th Battalion Brigade of the Guards | Indian Army | December 3, 1971 | Gangasagar Agartala Sector | Posthumous |
10877 F(P) | Flying Officer | Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon | No. 18 Squadron | Indian Air Force | December 14, 1971 | Srinagar Jammu & Kashmir | Posthumous |
IC-25067 | Second Lieutenant | Arun Khetarpal | 17th Poona Horse | Indian Army | December 16, 1971 | Barapind-Jarpal Shakargarh Sector | Posthumous |
IC-14608 | Major | Hoshiar Singh | 3rd Battalion The Grenadiers | Indian Army | December 17, 1971 | Basantar River Shakargarh Sector | |
JC-155825 | Naib Subedar | Bana Singh | 8th Battalion Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry | Indian Army | May 23, 1987 | Siachen Glacier Jammu and Kashmir | |
IC-32907 | Major | Ramaswamy Parameshwaran | 8th Battalion Mahar Regiment | Indian Army | November 25, 1987 | Sri Lanka | Posthumous |
IC-56959 | Captain | Manoj Kumar Pandey | 1st Battalion 11th Gorkha Rifles | Indian Army | July 3, 1999 | Khaluber/Juber Top Batalik sector Kargil, Jammu and Kashmir | Posthumous |
2690572 | Grenadier | Yogendra Singh Yadav | 18th Battalion The Grenadiers | Indian Army | July 4, 1999 | Tiger Hill Kargil, Jammu and Kashmir | |
13760533 | Rifleman | Sanjay Kumar | 13th Battalion Jammu & Kashmir Rifles | Indian Army | July 5, 1999 | Area Flat Top Kargil, Jammu and Kashmir | |
IC-57556 | Captain | Vikram Batra | 13th Battalion Jammu & Kashmir Rifles | Indian Army | July 6, 1999 | Point 5140, Point 4875 Kargil, Jammu and Kashmir | Posthumous |
Regiments
Of the 21 awardees, 20 are from the Indian Army and one from the Indian Air Force. The Grenadiers have received the most number of Param Vir Chakras, with 3 awards. The various Gorkha Rifle regiments of the Indian Army have also received 3 awards, with the 1 Gorkha Rifles and 8 Gorkha Rifles and 11 Gorkha Rifles each having a PVC recipient.
In popular culture
The TV series, Param Vir Chakra (1990) directed by noted film director Chetan Anand was on the lives of Param Vir Chakra winners. The first episode of the series featured the first recipient of the award, Major Som Nath Sharma of Kumaon Regiment.[9]
The Bollywood movie LOC Kargil gives an account of all of the PVC recipients from the Kargil War where Captain Manoj Kumar Pandey is played by Ajay Devgan, Subedar Yogendra Singh Yadav is played by Manoj Bajpai, Naib Subedar Sanjay Kumar is played by Sunil Shetty and Captain Vikram Batra is played by Abhishek Bachchan.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Param Vir Chakra". Gallantry Awards. Indian Army. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Precedence Of Medals". Indian Army. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Param Vir Chakra (PVC)". India: National Portal of India. Retrieved 2014-08-13.
- ↑ "Indian Air Force :: Param Vir Chakra". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 2014-08-13.
- ↑ "Other States / West Bengal News : Living with war memories that never fade". The Hindu. 2010-08-08. Retrieved 2013-07-10.
- ↑ Satyindra Singh (20 June 1999). "Honouring the Bravest of the Brave". The Tribune, Chandigarh. Retrieved 2014-08-13.
- ↑ Haynes, Ed. "General Service Medal 1947". Decorations and Medals of the Republic of India. Archived from the original on 23 July 2008. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
- ↑ Sumit Walia (Jan 23, 2009). "The first Param Vir Chakra". Sify.com. Retrieved 2014-08-13.
- ↑ Madhu Jain (August 15, 1990). "Mandi House hardsells Kashmir in its serial 'Gul Gulshan Gulfam'". India Today. Retrieved 2014-08-13.
External links
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