Bharat Ratna Award: Process, Benefits, and List of Recipients Bharat Ratna Award (1954-2019)

 About Bharat Ratna

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Bharat Ratna (Jewel of India or Gem of India in English) is the Republic of India's highest civilian award. Until, the official criteria for awarding the Bharat Ratna stipulated it was to be conferred "for the highest degrees of national service. The Bharat Ratna award was instituted in the year 1954. The service includes artistic, literary, and scientific achievement, as well as " recognition of public service of the highest order. In December 2011, the Government of India modified the criteria to allow sportspersons to receive the award, since then, the award may be conferred "for performance of highest order in any field of human endeavour".

Any person without distinction of race, occupation, position or sex is eligible for the award.

The Process

The recommendations for an award of the "Bharat Ratna" are made by the Prime Minister of India to the President of India; a  maximum of three awards may be made in a given year. The holders of the Bharat Ratna rank 7th in the Indian order of precedence; however, the honour does not carry a monetary grant. The honour does not confer any pre- or post- nominal titles or letters; recipients are constitutionally prohibited from using the award name as a title or post-nominal. However, if they desire, recipients may state they are Bharat Ratna awardees in their curriculum vitae, on the letterheads or on business cards.

‘Awarded Bharat Ratna by the President’

                         or

‘Recipient of Bharat Ratna Award’

 

What does the Awardee receive?

The original 1954 specifications of the award was a circle made of gold 35 mm in diameter with a centered sunburst design on the obverse side. The text “Bharat Ratna”, in Devanagari Script, is inscribed on the upper edge in silver gilt with a wreath set along on the lower edge. A platinum State Emblem of India was placed in the centre of the reverse side with the national motto, “Satyameva Jayate” (Truth alone triumphs) in Devanagari Script, inscribed in silver-gilt on the lower edge.

A year later (In 1955), the design was modified 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 sunburst design, made of platinum. The words “Bharat Ratna” on the obverse side remained the same as the 1954 design as did the emblem of India and “Satyameva Jayate” on the reverse side. In 1957, the silver-gilt decoration was changed to burnished bronze.

The Bharat Ratna award medals are produced at Alipore Mint, Kolkata along with the other civilian and military awards like Padma Vibushan, Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri, and Param Veer Chakra.The medal looks like a peepul leaf with “Bharat Ratna” written on it in the Devanagari script. An image of sun is also printed on it. The backside of the award carries the state emblem and motto.

Bharat Ratna Prize Money?

• The Award does not carry any monetary grant. 

Discontinuation and Revival of the Bharat Ratna Award 

The award was discontinued by the Janta Government (Prime Minister Morarji Desai on July 13, 1977, and those who received the award in the past were informed that they would not be allowed to use it as a title).

Revival of the Award : In January 1980 Prime Minister Indira Gandhi decided to revive this award. After the revival, Mother Teresa was the first recipient.

List of Recipients of Bharat Ratna Award (1954-2019)

1. C. Rajagopalachari (1954)
2. Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1954)
3. Dr. C. V. Raman (1954)
4. Bhagwan Das (1955)
5. Dr. M. Visvesvaraya  (1955)
6. Jawaharlal Nehru (1955)
7. Govind Ballabh Pant (1957)
8. Dhondo Keshav Karve (1958)
9. Bidhan Chandra Roy (1961)
10. Purushottam Das Tandon (1961)
11. Rajendra Prasad (1962)
12. Zakir Husain (1963)
13. Pandurang Vaman Kane (1963)
14. Lal Bahadur Shastri (Posthumous) (1966)
15. Indira Gandhi (1971) 
16. V. V. Giri (1975)
17. K. Kamaraj (Posthumous) (1976)
18. Mother Teresa (1980)
19. Vinoba Bhave (1983)
20. Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1987)
21. M. G. Ramachandran (Posthumous) (1988)
22. B. R. Ambedkar (Posthumous) (1990)
23. Nelson Mandela (1990)
24. Rajiv Gandhi (Posthumous) (1991)
25. Vallabhbhai Patel (1991)
26. Morarji Desai (1991)
27. Abul Kalam Azad (Posthumous) (1992)
28. Jahangir Ratanji Dadabhai (J.R.D.) Tata (1992)
29. Satyajit Ray (1992)
30. Gulzarilal Nanda (1997)
31. Aruna Asaf Ali (Posthumous)(Posthumous) (1997)
32. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (1997)
33. M. S. Subbulakshmi (1998)
34. Chidambaram Subramaniam (1998)
35. Jayaprakash Narayan (Posthumous) (1999)
36. Amartya Sen (1999)
37. Gopinath Bordoloi (Posthumous) (1999)
38. Ravi Shankar (1999)
39. Lata Mangeshkar (2001)
40. Bismillah Khan (2001)
41. Bhimsen Joshi (2009)
42. C. N. R. Rao (2014)
43. Sachin Tendulkar (2014)
44. Madan Mohan Malaviya (Posthumous) (2015)
45. Atal Bihari Vajpayee (2015)
46. Pranab Mukherjee (2019)
47. Bhupen Hazarika (2019)
48. Nanaji Deshmukh (2019)

First Recipient of Bharat Ratna Award

• In 1954 1954 Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, C. Rajagopalachari, and  C. V. Raman received the Bharat Ratna Award.

First Female recipient of the Bharat Ratna Award

• Indira Gandhi in 1971.

This is all about the Bharat Ratna Award. 

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