| Bharat Ratna | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | National Civilian |
| Description | Highest Civilian Award of the Republic of India |
| Country |  India |
| Presented by |  President of India |
| Ribbon |  |
| Obverse | An image of theSun along with the words "Bharat Ratna", inscribed inDevanagari script, on apeepal (Ficus religiosa) leaf |
| Reverse | A platinumState Emblem of India placed in the centre with the national motto, "Satyameva Jayate" (Truth alone triumphs) in Devanagari script |
| Established | 1954; 72 years ago (1954) |
| First award | 1955 |
| Latest award | 2024
|
| Total | 53 |
| Website | brs |
| Precedence | |
| Next (higher) | None |
| Next (lower) |  Param Vir Chakra (military) Padma Vibhushan (civilian) |
TheBharat Ratna (Hindi pronunciation:[bʱaːɾət̪ɾət̪n̪(ᵊ)];lit. 'Gem of India') is the highestcivilian award of theRepublic of India. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conferred in recognition of "exceptional service/performance of the highest order", without distinction of race, occupation, position or gender. The award was originally limited to achievements in the arts, literature, science, and public services, but theGovernment of India expanded the criteria to include "any field of human endeavor" in December 2011. The recipients receive aSanad (certificate) signed by the president and apeepal leaf-shaped medallion. Bharat Ratna recipients rank seventh in theIndian order of precedence.
The first recipients of the Bharat Ratna were: the formergovernor-general of the Union of IndiaC. Rajagopalachari, the formerpresident of the Republic of IndiaSarvepalli Radhakrishnan; and the Indian physicistC. V. Raman, who were honoured in 1954. Since then, the award has been bestowed upon 53 individuals, including 18 who were awarded posthumously. The original statutes did not provide for posthumous awards but were amended in January 1966 to permit them to honor former prime ministerLal Bahadur Shastri, the first individual to be honored posthumously. In 2014, cricketerSachin Tendulkar, then aged 40, became the youngest recipient, while social reformerDhondo Keshav Karve was the oldest recipient when he was awarded on his 100th birthday. Though usually conferred on India-born citizens, the award has been conferred on one naturalized citizen,Mother Teresa, and on two non-Indians:Abdul Ghaffar Khan (born in British India and later a citizen ofPakistan) andNelson Mandela, a citizen ofSouth Africa.
The Bharat Ratna, along with other personalcivil honours, was briefly suspended from July 1977 to January 1980, during the change in the national government; and for a second time from August 1992 to December 1995, when severalpublic-interest litigations challenged the constitutional validity of the awards. In 1992, the government's decision to confer the award posthumously onSubhas Chandra Bose was opposed by those who had refused to accept the fact of hisdeath, including some members of his extended family. Following a 1997Supreme Court decision, the press communique announcing Bose's award was cancelled; it is the only time when the award was announced but not conferred.
On 2 January 1954, a press communique was released from the office of the secretary to the president announcing the creation of two civilian awards—Bharat Ratna (Jewel of India), the highest civilian award, and the three-tierPadma Vibhushan, classified into "Pehla Warg" (Class I), "Dusra Warg" (Class II), and "Tisra Warg" (Class III), which rank below the Bharat Ratna.[1][2][3] On 15 January 1955, the Padma Vibhushan was reclassified into three different awards; the Padma Vibhushan, the highest of the three, followed by thePadma Bhushan and thePadma Shri.[4]
The award was briefly suspended twice in its history.[5] The first suspension occurred whenMorarji Desai, who was sworn in as the fourthprime minister in 1977, withdrew all personalcivil honours on 13 July 1977.[6][7] The suspension was rescinded on 25 January 1980, afterIndira Gandhi became the prime minister.[8][9] The award was suspended again in mid-1992, when twoPublic-Interest Litigations were filed, one in theKerala High Court and another in theMadhya Pradesh High Court, challenging the "constitutional validity" of the awards.[5] The awards were reintroduced by theSupreme Court in December 1995, following the conclusion of the litigation.[7][10]
There is no formal provision that recipients of the Bharat Ratna should be Indian citizens. It has been awarded to anaturalised Indian citizen,Mother Teresa in 1980, and to two non-Indians,Abdul Ghaffar Khan of Pakistan in 1987 and the former South African presidentNelson Mandela in 1990.[11]Sachin Tendulkar, at the age of 40, became the youngest person and first sportsperson to receive the honour.[12]Dhondo Keshav Karve was the oldest living recipient when he was awarded on his 100th birthday on 18 April 1958.[13][a] As of 2024[update], the award has been conferred upon 50 people with 15 posthumous declarations.[15]
The Bharat Ratna is conferred "in recognition of exceptional service/performance of the highest order", without distinction of race, occupation, position, or gender.[16][3] The award was originally confined to the arts, literature, science, and public services, as per the 1954 regulations.[2] In December 2011, the rules were amended to "any field of human endeavour".[3][17] The 1954 statutes did not allow posthumous awards, but this was subsequently modified in the January 1966 statute, andLal Bahadur Shastri became the first recipient to be honored posthumously in 1966.[4][18]
Although there is no formal nomination process, recommendations for the award can only be made by the prime minister to thepresident.[3] The recipient receives aSanad (certificate) signed by the president and a medallion without any monetary grant. Usage of the title 'Bharat Ratna' as a prefix by the awardee is exempt from Article 18 (1) of theConstitution,[b] as per the Supreme Court's precedent in Balaji Raghavan/S.P. Anand v. Union of India in 1995.[20] Additionally, recipients may either use the expression "Awarded Bharat Ratna by the President" or "Recipient of Bharat Ratna Award" to indicate that they have been honored with the award.[16] The holders of the Bharat Ratna rank seventh in theIndian order of precedence.[21]
As with many official announcements, recipients are announced and registered inThe Gazette of India, a publication released by the Department of Publication,Ministry of Urban Development used for official government notices; without publication in theGazette, conferral of the award is not considered official. Recipients whose awards have been revoked or restored, both of which require the authority of the president, are registered in theGazette. Recipients whose awards have been revoked are required to surrender their medals, and their names are struck from the register.[2][4]
The original 1954 specifications of the award was a circle made of gold1+3⁄8 inches (35 mm) in diameter with a centered image of thesun on the obverse side. The text "Bharat Ratna", inDevanagari Script, is inscribed on the upper edge in silver gilt with a wreath set along on the lower edge. A platinumState Emblem of India was placed in the center of the reverse side with the national motto, "Satyameva Jayate" in Devanagari Script (Sanskrit:सत्यमेव जयते; lit. "Truth alone triumphs"), inscribed in silver-gilt on the lower edge.[2][3]
A year later, the design was modified. The current medal is in the shape of apeepal leaf, approximately2+5⁄16 inches (59 mm) long,1+7⁄8 inches (48 mm) wide and1⁄8 inch (3.2 mm) thick and rimmed in platinum.[22] The embossed sun burst design, made of platinum, on the obverse side of the medal has a diameter of5⁄8 inch (16 mm) with rays spreading out from5⁄6 inch (21 mm) to1⁄2 inch (13 mm) from the center of the Sun. 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. A 2-inch-wide (51 mm) white ribbon is attached to the medal so it can be worn around the neck.[4][5][23] In 1957, the silver-gilt decoration was changed to burnished bronze.[2][24] The medals are minted atAlipore Mint inKolkata.[25][26]
Bharat Ratna can not be used as a prefix or suffix, however recipients may identify themselves as "Awarded Bharat Ratna by the President" or "Recipient of Bharat Ratna Award". The award does not carry any monetary benefits, but the award includes the following entitlements:[2][3]
The Bharat Ratna has been mired in several controversies and award grants have been subject to multiplepublic interest litigations (PILs).[7][28][29][30][31]
On 23 January 1992, a press release was published by the president's secretariat to confer the award posthumously onSubhas Chandra Bose. The decision was contested in a public interest litigation, with the petitioner objecting to the conferral of the award and its posthumous mention of Bose, saying that honoring a personality higher than the award is "ridiculous", and it was an act of "carelessness" to classify such a person with past and future recipients. It was also contested that the award cannot be conferred to Bose posthumously as the Government had not officially acceptedhis death on 18 August 1945.[28] The petitioner requested the whereabouts of Bose from 18 August 1945 to date, based on the information collected by the1956 Shah Nawaz Committee and the1970 Khosla Commission.[32][33] Bose's family also declined to accept the award.[34]
TheSupreme Court formed a special two-judge division bench to adjudicate the case. TheSolicitor General noted that to confer the award per the appropriate regulations pertaining to the Bharat Ratna, the name of the recipient must be published inThe Gazette of India and entered in the recipients register maintained under the direction of the president.[2] It was noted that only an announcement had been made by press communique, but the government had not proceeded to confer the award by publishing the name in theGazette and entering the name in the register with the president having not conferred aSanad (certificate).[32] On 4 August 1997, the Supreme Court delivered an order that since the award had not been officially conferred, it cannot be revoked and declared that the press communique be treated as cancelled with the court declining to pass any judgement on the posthumous mention of Bose and his death.[32][35]
In 1992, two PILs were filed in the High Courts; one in theKerala High Court on 13 February 1992 and another in theMadhya Pradesh High Court on 24 August 1992. Both petitions questioned the civilian awards being "Titles" per an interpretation ofArticle 18 (1) of theConstitution.[b] On 25 August 1992, the Madhya Pradesh High Court issued a notice temporarily suspending all civilian awards.[7] A special five-judge division bench of the Supreme Court was formed, which restored the awards and delivered a judgement that the "Bharat Ratna and Padma awards are not titles under Article 18 of the Constitution" on 15 December 1995.[10]
Following the announcement, in November 2013, thatC. N. R. Rao andSachin Tendulkar were to be awarded the Bharat Ratna, multiple litigations were filed challenging the awards. The litigation against Tendulkar to theElection Commission indicated that the awarding him was a violation of themodel code of conduct as Tendulkar was anIndian National Congress nominatedmember of Rajya Sabha and the decision to award him would influence the voters of five states whereelections were underway at the time.[30] On 4 December 2013, the Election Commission rejected the petition stating that conferring the award on people from non-polling states did not amount to a violation of the code.[36]
Another litigation was filed against then-prime ministerManmohan Singh, home ministerSushilkumar Shinde and sports ministerBhanwar Jitendra Singh for conferring of the award on Tendulkar, alleging an apparent "conspiracy to ignore" the famed Indianfield hockey playerDhyan Chand.[31][37] The litigation filed against Rao declared that other Indian scientists, such asHomi Bhabha andVikram Sarabhai, had contributed more than Rao, his claim of publishing 1400 research papers was "physically impossible" and Rao had proven cases of plagiarism, hence the announcement should be annulled.[29] TheHigh Courts rejected all the petitions raised against Rao and Tendulkar.[38][39][40]
In 1977, the decision by then-prime minister Indira Gandhi to posthumously honor formerChief Minister of Tamil NaduK. Kamaraj was criticized to have been aimed at placating the voters before theTamil Nadu assembly elections in 1977.[34] In 1988, the decision by then-prime ministerRajiv Gandhi (1984–89) to confer the award posthumously on former chief minister of Tamil Nadu,M. G. Ramachandran was criticized to have been aimed to influence voters prior to theTamil Nadu assembly elections in 1989.[34][41] The decision was also criticized for awarding Ramachandran before prominent independence activistsB. R. Ambedkar andVallabhbhai Patel, who were bestowed the honor later in 1990 and 1991 respectively.[42] Later, then-prime ministerV.P. Singh was criticized for posthumously honoring B. R. Ambedkar, apparently in a bid to please theDalit voters.[34][43][44] Later,Ravi Shankar was accused of lobbying for the award.[45]
The posthumous conferments of the award on the recipients who died before the Indian independence in 1947 or before the award was instituted in 1954, have been criticized by various authors and historians, stating that such conferments could lead to more demands to honor people likeMaurya emperorAshoka,[46][47]Mughal emperorAkbar,Maratha emperorShivaji, poetRabindranath Tagore,[48] Hindu spiritualistSwami Vivekananda,[49] independence activistBal Gangadhar Tilak,[50] andfather of the nationMahatma Gandhi.[50] In 1991, then-prime ministerP. V. Narasimha Rao was criticized for bestowing the award upon Sardar Patel in 1991, 41 years after his death in 1950; and upon Subhas Chandra Bose in 1992, who purportedly died in 1945.[50][51] In 2015, the prime ministerNarendra Modi's decision to awardMadan Mohan Malaviya, who died in 1946, close to the local body elections inUttar Pradesh was also met with criticism.[50]
A few of the conferments have been criticized for honoring personalities only after they received global recognition.[52] The award forMother Teresa was announced in 1980, a year after she was awarded theNobel Peace Prize.[53]Satyajit Ray received anAcademy Honorary Award in 1992 followed by the Bharat Ratna the same year.[54] In 1999,Amartya Sen was awarded the Bharat Ratna, a year after his 1998Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.[55][56]
Though, as per the statutes for the Bharat Ratna, the recommendations for the award can only be made by the prime minister to the president, there have been several demands from various political parties publicly to honor their leaders.[16] In January 2008,Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaderL. K. Advani wrote to then-prime minister Manmohan Singh recommending Singh's predecessorAtal Bihari Vajpayee for the award.[57][58] This was immediately followed by theCommunist Party of India (Marxist) lobbying for their leader,Jyoti Basu, formerChief Minister of West Bengal though Basu himself said that he would decline the honour, even if awarded.[59][60][61] Similar demands were made byTelugu Desam Party,Bahujan Samaj Party, andShiromani Akali Dal for their respective leadersN. T. Rama Rao,Kanshi Ram, andParkash Singh Badal.[62] In September 2015, regional political partyShiv Sena demanded the award for the independence activistVinayak Damodar Savarkar stating that he had been "deliberately neglected by previous governments" but his family clarified that they are not making such demand and that the freedom fighter is known for his contribution towards independence movement and did not need an award for recognition.[63][64][65]
Per the original statutes, sports-persons were not eligible for the award; however, a revision of the rules in December 2011 made eligible "any field of human endeavour".[17] Subsequently, several sports-persons' names were discussed; amongst them were field-hockey player Dhyan Chand and formerworld chess championViswanathan Anand.[34][66][67] In 2011, 82 members ofparliament recommended Chand's name for the award to thePrime Minister's Office. In January 2012, theMinistry of Youth Affairs and Sports forwarded his name again, this time along with2008 Summer Olympicsgold medallist shooterAbhinav Bindra and mountaineerTenzing Norgay while Bindra had already been recommended for the award in May 2013 by theNational Rifle Association of India.[68][69] In July 2013, the ministry again recommended Dhyan Chand.[68][70] However, in November 2013, cricketer Sachin Tendulkar became the first sports-person to receive the honour and this garnered much criticism for the government.[12][71][72][73]
In 2012, a litigation was filed in theKarnataka High Court requesting the court to issue a direction to theMinistry of Home Affairs to confer the Bharat Ratna uponMahatma Gandhi. On 27 January 2014, a counsel appearing for the petitioner noted that after multiple representations from the petitioner, they were provided with the information underRTI that the recommendations to confer the award on Gandhi have been received multiple times in the past and were forwarded to the Prime Minister's Office. ADivision bench consisting of theChief Justice and another judge, dismissed the petition stating that the subject is not amenable to any adjudication process and the nominations and conferment process is stated to be informal and in the discretion of the highest authority in the Government.[74][75][76] TheAIADMK demanded Bharat Ratna for their leaderJayalalithaa.[77]
+Naturalised citizen recipient | * Non-citizen recipient | # Posthumous recipient |
| Year | Image | Recipient | State /Country[c] | Life span | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1954 |  | C. Rajagopalachari | Tamil Nadu | 1878–1972 | Rajagopalachari was anindependence activist, who served as the lastGovernor-General of India from 1948 to 50).[78] Earlier, he served as the first governor of West Bengal in 1947–48.[79] He was the home minister in thefirst Nehru cabinet succeedingSardar Vallabhai Patel in 1950.[80] He served as thechief minister of Madras Presidency from 1937 to 1939 and later as the chief minister of Madras State between 1952 and 1954.[81] He founded theSwatantra Party in 1959.[82] |
 | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan | Tamil Nadu | 1888–1975 | Radhakrishnan served as the firstVice-President of India from 1952 to 1962 and as the secondPresident of India from 1962 to 1967).[83][84] Since 1962, his birthday of 5 September is observed annually asTeachers' Day in India.[85] | |
 | C. V. Raman | Tamil Nadu | 1888–1970 | Raman was aphysicist known for his work in the field oflight scattering.[86] He is known for the discovery ofRaman scattering andRaman spectroscopy and was presented theNobel Prize in Physics in 1930.[87] | |
| 1955 | .jpg) | Bhagwan Das | Uttar Pradesh | 1869–1958 | Bhagwan Das was an independence activist,theosophist and educationist. He co-foundedKashi Vidyapith and worked withMadan Mohan Malaviya to establish theBanaras Hindu University.[88][89] |
 | M. Visvesvaraya | Karnataka | 1861–1962 | Visvesvaraya was acivil engineer and statesman. He served as the 19thDiwan of Mysore from 1912 to 1918.[90] His birthday, 15 September, is observed annually asEngineer's Day in India.[91] | |
 | Jawaharlal Nehru | Uttar Pradesh | 1889–1964 | Nehru was an independence activist and politician, who was the first and the longest-servingPrime Minister of India from 1947 to 1964.[57][92] | |
| 1957 |  | Govind Ballabh Pant | Uttar Pradesh | 1887–1961 | Pant was an independence activist and politician, who served as the premier ofUnited Provinces (1937–39, 1946–50) and as the firstchief minister of Uttar Pradesh from 1950 to 1954.[93] He served asUnion Home Minister from 1955 to 1961.[94] |
| 1958 |  | Dhondo Keshav Karve | Maharashtra | 1858–1962 | Karve was a social reformer and educator, known for his work on education for women and remarriage of Hindu widows. He established the Widow Marriage Association (1883), Hindu Widows Home (1896), and startedShreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey Women's University in 1916.[95] |
| 1961 |  | Bidhan Chandra Roy | West Bengal | 1882–1962 | Roy was aphysician,politician andeducationist. He served as the secondChief Minister of West Bengal from 1948 to 1962 and is known as the "Maker of Modern West Bengal".[96] His birthday on 1 July is observed annually as theNational Doctors' Day in India.[60] |
 | Purushottam Das Tandon | Uttar Pradesh | 1882–1962 | Tandon was an independence activist and politician, who served as the speaker of theUttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly from 1937 to 1950.[97] He was actively involved in a campaign to getofficial language status toHindi.[98] | |
| 1962 | %2c_signed_image_for_Walter_Nash_(NZ_Prime_Minister)%2c_1958_(16017609534).jpg) | Rajendra Prasad | Bihar | 1884–1963 | Prasad was an independence activist,lawyer and statesman, who was associated withMahatma Gandhi in theChamparan Satyagraha in Bihar andnon-cooperation movement.[99][100] Became the president ofConstituent Assembly of India. He was later elected as the firstPresident of India (1950–62).[83] |
| 1963 | .jpg) | Zakir Husain | Telangana | 1897–1969 | Husain was an independence activist and philosopher, who served as the Vice Chancellor ofAligarh Muslim University (1948–56) and theGovernor of Bihar (1957–62).[101] Later, he was elected as second vice-president of India (1962–67) and went on to become the third President of India (1967–69).[83][84] |
 | Pandurang Vaman Kane | Maharashtra | 1880–1972 | Kane was an indologist andSanskrit scholar, known for his five volume literary work,History of Dharmaśāstra: Ancient and Medieval Religious and Civil Law in India.[102][103] | |
| 1966 | .jpg) | Lal Bahadur Shastri# | Uttar Pradesh | 1904–1966 | Shastri was an independence activist, known for his slogan "Jai Jawan Jai Kisan" ("Hail to the Soldier, hail to the Farmer").[104] He served as second Prime Minister of India (1964–66) and led the country during theIndo-Pakistani War of 1965.[57][105] |
| 1971 |  | Indira Gandhi | Uttar Pradesh | 1917–1984 | Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister of India during 1966–77 and 1980–84.[57] She is known as the "Iron Lady of India", as she led India during theIndo-Pakistani War of 1971 and the concurrentBangladesh Liberation War which led to the formation ofBangladesh.[106][107] |
| 1975 |  | V. V. Giri | Odisha | 1894–1980 | Giri was an independence activist, who organized trade unions and facilitated their participation in the fight for independence. Post-independence, Giri held positions ofGovernor of Uttar Pradesh,Kerala andMysore state and other cabinet ministries.[108] He became the first acting president and was eventually elected as the fourth President of India, serving from 1969 to 1974.[83][109] |
| 1976 | .jpg) | K. Kamaraj# | Tamil Nadu | 1903–1975 | Kamaraj was an independence activist, freedom fighter, and politician who served as thechief minister of Tamil Nadu for over nine years, between 1954 and 1963.[110] He was known as the "King Maker", as he was thepresident of theIndian National Congress, when electingLal Bahadur Shastri theprime minister afterNehru's death andIndira Gandhi after Shastri's death, his followers idolized him as "Perunthalaivar"(Great Leader). He is the founder of the Indian political partyIndian National Congress (Organisation).[111] |
| 1980 |  | Mother Teresa+ | West Bengal (b.Skopje, North Macedonia) | 1910–1997 | Mother Teresa was aCatholicnun and founder of theMissionaries of Charity, a religious congregation, which manages homes for diseased people.[112] She was the recipient of theNobel Peace Prize for her humanitarian work in 1979.[113] She wasbeatified on 19 October 2003 byPope John Paul II andcanonised on 4 September 2016 byPope Francis.[114] |
| 1983 | .jpg) | Vinoba Bhave# | Maharashtra | 1895–1982 | Bhave was an independence activist, social reformer and an associate of Mahatma Gandhi, known for hisBhoodan movement.[115][116] He was known by the honorific title "Acharya" ("teacher") and was awarded theRamon Magsaysay Award (1958) for his humanitarian work.[117] |
| 1987 |  | Abdul Ghaffar Khan* | Pakistan | 1890–1988 | Khan was an independence activist, a follower of Mahatma Gandhi and an advocate ofHindu–Muslim unity in thesubcontinent.[118] He was known as "Frontier Gandhi" and was part of theKhilafat Movement in 1920 and founded theKhudai Khidmatgar ("Red Shirt movement") in 1929.[119][120][121] |
| 1988 |  | M. G. Ramachandran[d]# | Tamil Nadu | 1917–1987 | M. G. Ramachandran (M.G.R.), the firstactor to become the chief minister in the Republic of India, served as thechief minister of Tamil Nadu for over ten years, between 1977 and 1987.[110] Considered one of the greatest political leaders and actors of the state, his followers idolize him as "Puratchi Thalaivar"(Revolutionary Leader).[123] He is the founder of the Indian political partyAll India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. |
| 1990 |  | B. R. Ambedkar# | Madhya Pradesh | 1891–1956 | Ambedkar was a social reformer, lawyer and aDalit leader, who headed the committee drafting theIndian Constitution while also serving as the firstLaw Minister of India later.[124][125] Ambedkar campaigned against the social discrimination of Dalits and thecaste system in India.[126][127] He was associated with theDalit Buddhist movement after converting toBuddhism on 14 October 1956.[128][129] |
 | Nelson Mandela* | South Africa | 1918–2013 | Mandela was the leader of theAnti-Apartheid Movement in South Africa and later served as thePresident of South Africa (1994–99).[130][131] Often called as the "Gandhi of South Africa", Mandela'sAfrican National Congress movement was influenced byGandhian philosophy.[132][133] In 1993, he was awarded theNobel Peace Prize.[134] | |
| 1991 |  | Rajiv Gandhi# | Uttar Pradesh | 1944–1991 | Rajiv Gandhi was apilot turned politician, who served as the sixth Prime Minister of India serving from 1984 to 1989.[57] |
.jpg) | Vallabhbhai Patel# | Gujarat | 1875–1950 | Patel was an independence activist, who served as the firstDeputy Prime Minister of India (1947–50) and home minister.[135][136] Patel was known as the "Iron Man of India" and by the title of "Sardar" ("Leader") Patel and was instrumental in the accession of theprincely states into the Indian union.[137][138][139] | |
 | Morarji Desai | Gujarat | 1896–1995 | Desai was an independence activist and politician, who served as the fourth Prime Minister of India from 1977 to 1979 and was the first to be not from the Indian National Congress.[57] He was also awarded theNishan-e-Pakistan, the highest civilian award given by theGovernment of Pakistan.[140] Desai had earlier abolished the awards while he was in the office of Prime Minister for it being "worthless and politicised".[141] | |
| 1992 |  | Abul Kalam Azad[e]# | West Bengal | 1888–1958 | Azad was an independence activist and politician, who served as the first education minister of India.[144] His birthday on 11 November is observed annually as theNational Education Day in India.[145] |
.jpg) | J. R. D. Tata | Maharashtra | 1904–1993 | Tata was an industrialist, philanthropist, and aviation pioneer, who served as the chairman of the business conglomerateTata Group. He is the founder of various educational and research institutes and businesses.[146][147] | |
.jpg) | Satyajit Ray | West Bengal | 1922–1992 | Ray was afilm director. He directed his first filmPather Panchali in 1955 and is credited with bringing world recognition toIndian cinema.[148][149][150] In 1984, Ray was awarded theDadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest award in cinema and in1991, he receivedAcademy Honorary Award.[151][152] | |
| 1997 |  | Gulzarilal Nanda | Punjab | 1898–1998 | Nanda was an independence activist and politician, who served as the acting Prime Minister of India in 1964 and 1966 and as the deputy chairman of thePlanning Commission.[57][153] |
.jpg) | Aruna Asaf Ali# | West Bengal | 1909–1996 | Ali was an independence activist, known for hoisting the tricolor flag of India in Bombay during theQuit India Movement in 1942. Post Independence, she was elected as Delhi's first mayor in 1958.[154] | |
 | A. P. J. Abdul Kalam | Tamil Nadu | 1931–2015 | Kalam was an aerospace and defence scientist, who later served as the eleventh President of India from 2002 until 2007.[83] He was involved in the development of India's first satellite launch vehicleSLV III and theIntegrated Guided Missile Development Program, while working for various space and defence research agencies and has served as the scientific advisor to the defence minister,Secretary for defence research and director ofDefence Research and Development Organisation.[155] | |
| 1998 | .jpg) | M. S. Subbulakshmi | Tamil Nadu | 1916–2004 | Subbulakshmi was aCarnatic classical vocalist, known for her songs, religious chantings and compositions.[156] She was the first Indian musician to receive theRamon Magsaysay award for her public service.[157] |
 | C. Subramaniam | Tamil Nadu | 1910–2000 | Subramaniam was an independence activist and politician, who served as theminister of agriculture from 1964 to 1966 and later as minister of finance and defence. He is known for his contribution towards theGreen Revolution in India.[158] | |
| 1999 | .jpg) | Jayaprakash Narayan# | Bihar | 1902–1979 | Narayan was an independence activist and social reformer. He was commonly referred as "Loknayak" ("People's Leader") and is known for theTotal Revolution Movement initiated during the mid-1970s against the then government of India.[159] |
 | Amartya Sen | West Bengal | b. 1933 | Sen is aneconomist and the winner of theNobel memorial prize in economic sciences in 1998.[160][161] | |
 | Gopinath Bordoloi# | Assam | 1890–1950 | Bordoloi was an independence activist and politician, who served as the firstchief minister of Assam (1946–50).[162] His was instrumental in uniting Assam with India when parts of it wanted to accede toPakistan.[163] | |
 | Ravi Shankar | Uttar Pradesh | 1920–2012 | Ravi Shankar was amusician andsitar player. He has won fourGrammy Awards and is often considered "the world's best-known exponent of Hindustani classical music".[164][165] | |
| 2001 |  | Lata Mangeshkar | Maharashtra | 1929–2022 | Mangeshkar was a playback singer, known as the "nightingale of India".[166] She started her career in the 1940s and has sung songs in over 36 languages.[167] In 1989, Mangeshkar was awarded theDadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest award in cinema.[151] |
.jpg) | Bismillah Khan | Bihar | 1916–2006 | Khan was a Hindustani classicalshehnai player, who played the instrument for more than eight decades and is credited to have brought the instrument to the centre stage of Indian music.[168] | |
| 2009 | .jpg) | Bhimsen Joshi | Karnataka | 1922–2011 | Joshi was aHindustani classical vocalist, who was a disciple ofKirana gharana and is widely known for theKhyal genre of singing.[169][170] |
| 2014 |  | C. N. R. Rao | Karnataka | b. 1934 | Rao is achemist and a scientist specializing insolid state chemistry. He has honorary doctorates from 86 universities and has authored around 1,800 research publications and 56 books.[171][172][173] |
.jpg) | Sachin Tendulkar | Maharashtra | b. 1973 | Tendulkar is acricketer, who is regarded as one of the greatestbatters of all time.[174][175] Having debuted in 1989, Tendulkar played 664international cricket matches, scoring more than 34,000 in a career spanning over two decades and holds various cricket records.[176][177] | |
| 2015 | .jpg) | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | Madhya Pradesh | 1924–2018 | Vajpayee was a politician, who served as the Prime Minister of India three times in 1996, 1998 and from 1999 to 2004.[57] He was a parliamentarian for over four decades and was elected nine times to theLok Sabha, twice to theRajya Sabha, also serving as theminister of external affairs during 1977–79.[178][179] |
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| 2019 | .jpg) | Pranab Mukherjee | West Bengal | 1935–2020 | Mukherjee was a politician who served as the13th President of India from 2012 until 2017.[83] In a career spanning five decades, Mukherjee had been a leader of the Indian National Congress and had occupied several ministerial portfolios in the Government of India. Prior to hiselection as President, he was finance minister from 2009 to 2012.[183] |
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| 2024 |  | Karpoori Thakur# | Bihar | 1924–1988 | Thakur was a politician, who served two terms as the11th Chief Minister of Bihar, from 1970 to 1971, and from 1977 to 1979. In 1978, he introduced thereservation policy in state government jobs.[188][189] |
 | L. K. Advani | Delhi | b. 1927 | Advani is a politician who served as the7th Deputy Prime Minister of India from 2002 to 2004.[190] He is one of the co-founders ofBharatiya Janata Party and is credited with scripting the rise of the BJP as a major political force through theRam Janmabhoomi Movement.[191][192] | |
 | P. V. Narasimha Rao# | Telangana | 1921–2004 | Narasimha Rao, was an Indian lawyer and politician who served as the 9th prime minister from 1991 to 1996.[57] He was the first Prime Minister fromSouth India.[193] He is known for introducing variousliberal reforms to India's economy.[194] | |
 | Charan Singh# | Uttar Pradesh | 1902–1987 | Charan Singh was an Indian politician and an independence activist who served as the 5th prime minister from 1979 to 1980.[57][195] He is known as the "Champion of India's peasants".[196] He is credited for bringing radical land reform measures and bringing uniformity in the farm sector. These reforms were implemented through the Debt Redemption Bill, the Land Holding Act, and the Zamindari Abolition Act.[197] He was the founder of the political partyLokdal in 1980.[198] | |
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The President is pleased to institute an award to be designated Bharat Ratna and to make the following Regulations
The President is pleased to make the following revised regulations for the award of the decoration Bharat Ratna in supersession of those published in Notification No. 1-Pres./54, dated the 2nd January, 1954
The President is pleased to cancel the President's Secretariat Notification No. 65-Pres/77 dated the 8th August, 1977 by which the Civilian Awards "Bharat Ratna', 'Padma Vibhushan', 'Padma Bhushan' and 'Padma Shri' were cancelled and to direct that the said Awards shall be re-instituted with immediate effect.
The President is pleased to award the Bharat Ratna posthumously to:—Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri
Media related toBharat Ratna at Wikimedia Commons
