Bharat Ratna Awardees

Bharat Ratna
Wikipedia


Bharat Ratna

Award Information
Type
Civilian
Category
General
Instituted
1954
Last Awarded
2001
Total Awarded
41
Awarded by
Govt. of India
Description
An image of the Sun alongwith the words "Bharat Ratna",inscribed in Devanagari script,on a peepul leaf
First Awardee(s)
Dr.Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
Last Awardee(s)
Lata MangeshkarUstad Bismillah Khan
Award Rank
none ← Bharat Ratna → Padma Vibhushan

Bharat Ratna (Gem of India 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". Unlike knights, holders of the Bharat Ratna carry no special title nor any other honorifics, but they do have a place in the order of precedence. It was established by the President of India, on 2 January, 1954. The award was briefly suspended from July 13, 1977 to January 26, 1980.
History


The Bharta Ratna Citation, the certificate conferred to Late M. G. Ramachandran
The order was established by Dr Rajendra Prasad, President of India, on the second of January 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there have been ten posthumous awards, including the award to Subhash Chandra Bose in 1992, which was later withdrawn due to a legal technicality, the only case of an award being withdrawn.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.
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.
Complete list of the Awardees
S.No
Name
Birth / death
Awarded
Notes
State(If Indian) else Country
1.
Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
1888–1975
1954
Former President, Philosopher.
Tamil Nadu
2.
Chakravarti Rajagopalachari
1878–1972
1954
Former Governor-General, Freedom Fighter.
Tamil Nadu
3.
Dr C.V. Raman
1888–1970
1954
Nobel-prize winning Physicist
Tamil Nadu
4.
Dr Bhagwan Das
1869–1958
1955
Philosopher, Freedom Fighter
Uttar Pradesh
5.
Dr Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya
1861–1962
1955
Engineer
Karnataka
6.
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
1889–1964
1955
Former Prime Minister, Freedom Fighter, Author.
Uttar Pradesh
7.
Govind Ballabh Pant
1887–1961
1957
Freedom Fighter, Home Minister
Uttar Pradesh
8.
Dr Dhondo Keshav Karve
1858–1962
1958
Educationist, Social Reformer
Maharashtra
9.
Dr B. C. Roy
1882–1962
1961
Physician, Politician
West Bengal
10.
Purushottam Das Tandon
1882–1962
1961
Freedom Fighter, Educationalist.
Uttar Pradesh

11.
Dr Rajendra Prasad
1884–1963
1962
Former President, Freedom Fighter, Jurist
Bihar

12.
Dr Zakir Hussain
1897–1969
1963
Former President, Scholar.
Andhra Pradesh

13.
Dr Pandurang Vaman Kane
1880–1972
1963
Indologist and Sanskrit scholar
Maharashtra

14.
Lal Bahadur Shastri
1904–1966
1966
Posthumous, Former 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. Kamraj
1903–1975
1976
Posthumous, Freedom Fighter, Chief Minister-Tamil Nadu.
Tamil Nadu

18.
Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu (Mother Teresa)
1910–1997
1980
Naturalized Indian citizen, Nobel Laureate (Peace, 1979).
West Bengal

19.
Acharya Vinoba Bhave
1895–1982
1983
Posthumous, Social Reformer, Freedom Figher.
Maharashtra

20.
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan
1890–1988
1987
First non-citizen, Freedom Fighter.
Pakistan

21.
Dr M.G. Ramachandran
1917–1987
1988
Posthumous, Chief Minister-Tamil Nadu, Actor.
Tamil Nadu

22.
Dr Bhim Rao Ramji Ambedkar
1891–1956
1990
Posthumous, Architect-Indian Constitution, Leader of Dalits
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, Educator.
West Bengal

28.
J.R.D. Tata
1904–1993
1992
Industrialist and philanthropist.
Maharashtra

29.
Satyajit Ray
1922–1992
1992
Legendary Indian Film Director
West Bengal

30.
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose
1897–1945(?)
1992
Freedom fighter, Founder of Indian National Army.
West Bengal

31.
Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
b. 1931
1997
President of India, Scientist.
Tamil Nadu

32.
Gulzarilal Nanda
1898–1998
1997
Freedom Fighter, former Prime Minister.
Punjab

33.
Aruna Asaf Ali
1908–1996
1997
Posthumous, Freedom Fighter.
West Bengal

34.
Dr M.S. Subbulakshmi
1916–2004
1998
Classical singer.
Tamil Nadu

35.
C Subramaniam
1910–2000
1998
Freedom Fighter, Minister of Agriculture.
Tamil Nadu

36.
Jayaprakash Narayan
1902–1979
1998
Posthumous, Freedom Fighter, Social Reformer.
Uttar Pradesh

37.
Pandit Ravi Shankar
b. 1920
1999
Classical sitar player.
Uttar Pradesh

38.
Dr Amartya Sen
b. 1933
1999
Nobel Laureate (Economics, 1998), Economist.
West Bengal

39.
Gopinath Bordoloi
1890–1950
1999
Posthumous, freedom fighter
Assam

40.
Lata Mangeshkar
b. 1929
2001
Play back singer.
Maharashtra

41.
Ustad Bismillah Khan
1916-2006
2001
Shehnai (classical instrument) player.
Uttar Pradesh


42.
Muthuramalinga thevar
b.1908-1963
2007
Indian politician
Tamil Nadu