Bharat Ratna | The highest civilian honour of the Republic of India

by Yuvi - May 12, 2022

Bharat Ratna Award

Bharat Ratna award is the highest civilian honour in the Republic of India. Instituted and started on 2 January 1954, the award is conferred without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex, in recognition of “exceptional service or performance of the highest order”.

Initially Bharat Ratna was limited to achievements in the fields of arts, literature, science, and public services only, but later on in December 2011 the Indian government decided to expanded this criteria and included “any field of human endeavour”.

Recommendations for the Bharat Ratna

Prime Minister gives the recommendations for the Bharat Ratna to the President of India, with a maximum of three nominees being awarded per year.

The recipients receive a certificate signed by the President of India and a peepal leaf-shaped medallion. There is no monetary grant associated with Bharat Ratna award. Bharat Ratna recipients rank seventh in the Indian order of precedence.

First recipients of Bharat Ratna

C. Rajagopalachari the last Governor-General of the Dominion of India and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan the second President and the first Vice President of India and C. V. Raman who was a Nobel Prize Laureate and a Physicist were honoured with bharat Ratna initially in 1954. the first Bharat Ratna Award was given to these 3 personalities.

Till now (2022), the award has been bestowed upon 48 individuals, among them 14 are awarded Bharat Ratna posthumously. The original statutes did not provide for posthumous awards but it was amended in January 1955 to permit posthumous Bharat Ratna. Indian Former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri was the first person to be honoured posthumously.

Youngest recipient of Bharat Ratna

Sachin Tendulkar was awarded with Bharat Ratna in 2014 at a age of 40yrs, and he became the youngest recipient of Bharat Ratna. Dhondo Keshav Karve a social reformer was awarded with bharat Ratna on his 100th birthday, and he become the oldest person who was awarded Bharat Ratna

M. S. Subbulakshmi was the first singer to be awarded Bharat Ratna and M. G. Ramachandran was the first actor to be awarded Bharat Ratna.

Bharat Ratna to non-Indians

Though Bharat Ratna is usually conferred to India-born citizens, but Bharat Ratna has been also awarded to a naturalised Indian citizen Mother Teresa, and to two non-Indians they were Abdul Ghaffar Khan (born in British India and later citizen of Pakistan) and Nelson Mandela, who was born in South Africa and citizen of South Africa.

Suspension of Bharat Ratna

Along with other personal civil honours The Bharat Ratna, was briefly suspended from July 1977 to January 1980, during the change in the national government, and for second time it was suspended from August 1992 to December 1995, when several public-interest litigations challenged the constitutional validity of the awards.

Bharat Ratna posthumously to Subhas Chandra Bose

The Indian government decided to confer the award posthumously to Subhas Chandra Bose in 1992, but it was opposed by peoples who had refused to accept the fact of death of Subhas Chandra Bose, including some members of his extended family.

The press communique announcing Subhas Chandra Bose’s award was cancelled due to Supreme Court decision in 1997. It become a unique incident in which the award was announced but it was not conferred.

Criticism in Bharat Ratna awards

The posthumous Bharat Ratna award of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (1991) and Madan Mohan Malaviya (2015) were criticised as they died before Bharat Ratna award was instituted.

Important facts about Bharat Ratna

• There is no formal provision that recipients of the Bharat Ratna should be Indian citizens.
• There is no formal nomination process for Bharat Ratna, and the recommendations for this honour can only be made by the Prime Minister of India to the President of India
• The office of the secretary to the President of India released a press communique on 02 Jan 1954 announcing the creation of two civilian awards—Bharat Ratna and Padma Vibhushan.
• Sachin Tendulkar is the youngest and the first sportsperson to receive Bharat Ratna at the age of 40yrs.
• Dhondo Keshav Karve was the oldest person who was awarded on his 100th birthday.
• Bharat Ratna medal is in the shape of a peepal leaf, approximately 2+5⁄16 inches (59 mm) long, 1+7⁄8 inches (48 mm) wide and 1⁄8 inch (3.2 mm) thick and made of platinum. The words “Bharat Ratna” is on the obverse side and the emblem of India and “Satyameva Jayate” is on the reverse side of the medal.
• The Bharat Ratna medals are produced at Alipore Mint, in Kolkata
• Bharat Ratna award does not carry any monetary benefits

Bharat Ratna Award

Bharat Ratna recipient Entitlements

• Bharat Ratna recipient receives a medallion and a certificate signed by the President of India.
• Treatment as a state guests when traveling within a state.
• Recipients can request to facilitate for abroad missions.
• Entitled for a diplomatic passport.
• Entitled for a lifetime free executive class travel on Air India.
• Placed at 7a position in the Indian order of precedence.

Sl No	Recipient	Field of work / State
1	Shri Chakravarti Rajagopalachari Bharat Ratna 1954	Public Affairs Tamil Nadu
2	Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan Bharat Ratna 1954	Public Affairs Tamil Nadu
3	Shri Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman Bharat Ratna 1954	Science and Engineering Tamil Nadu
4	Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru Bharat Ratna 1955	Public Affairs Uttar Pradesh
5	Dr. M. Visvesvaraya Bharat Ratna 1955	Civil Service Karnataka
6	Dr. Bhagwan Das Bharat Ratna 1955	Literature and Education Uttar Pradesh
7	Shri Govind Ballabh Pant Bharat Ratna 1957	Public Affairs Uttar Pradesh
8	Dr. Dhondo Keshav Karve Bharat Ratna 1958	Social Work Maharashtra
9	Shri Purushottam Das Tandon Bharat Ratna 1961	Public Affairs Uttar Pradesh
10	Shri Bidhan Chandra Roy Bharat Ratna 1961	Public Affairs West Bengal
11	Dr. Rajendra Prasad Bharat Ratna 1962	Public Affairs Bihar
12	Dr. Zakir Husain Bharat Ratna 1963	Public Affairs Telangana
13	Dr. Pandurang Vaman Kane Bharat Ratna 1963	Social Work Maharashtra
14	Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Bharat Ratna 1966	Public Affairs Uttar Pradesh
15	Smt. Indira Gandhi Bharat Ratna 1971	Public Affairs Uttar Pradesh
16	Shri V.V. Giri Bharat Ratna 1975	Public Affairs Odisha
17	Shri Kumaraswamy Kamraj Bharat Ratna 1976	Public Affairs Tamil Nadu
18	Mother Mary Bojaxhiu Teresa Bharat Ratna 1980	Social Work West Bengal
19	Shri Acharya Vinoba Bhave Bharat Ratna 1983	Social Work Maharashtra
20	Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan Bharat Ratna 1987	Social Work Pakistan
21	Shri Manidur Gopalan Ramachandran (posthumous) Bharat Ratna 1988	Public Affairs Tamil Nadu
22	Dr. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Bharat Ratna 1990	Public Affairs South Africa
23	Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar Bharat Ratna 1990	Public Affairs Maharashtra
24	Shri Rajiv Gandhi Bharat Ratna 1991	Public Affairs Delhi
25	Shri Morarji Ranchhodji Desai Bharat Ratna 1991	Public Affairs Gujara
26	Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Bharat Ratna 1991	Public Affairs Gujarat
27	Shri Satyajit Ray Bharat Ratna 1992	Art West Bengal
28	Shri Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhai Tata Bharat Ratna 1992	Trade and Industry Maharashtra
29	Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Bharat Ratna 1992	Public Affairs West Bengal
30	Smt. Aruna Asaf (Posth.) Ali Bharat Ratna 1997	Public Affairs Delhi
31	Shri Gulzari Lal Nanda Bharat Ratna 1997	Public Affairs Gujarat
32	Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Bharat Ratna 1997	Science and Engineering Delhi
33	Smt. M.S. Subbulakshmi Bharat Ratna 1998	Art Tamil Nadu
34	Shri Chidambaram Subramaniam Bharat Ratna 1998	Public Affairs Tamil Nadu
35	Shri Jayaprakash (Posth.) Narayan Bharat Ratna 1999	Public Affairs Bihar
36	Shri Gopinath (posth.) Bordoloi Bharat Ratna 1999	Public Affairs Assam
37	Prof. Amartya Sen Bharat Ratna 1999	Literature and Education United Kingdom
38	Pandit Ravi Shankar Bharat Ratna 1999	Art USA
39	Ustad Bismillah Khan Bharat Ratna 2001	Art Uttar Pradesh
40	Kum. Lata Dinanath Mangeshkar Bharat Ratna 2001	Art Maharashtra
41	Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi Bharat Ratna 2009	Art Maharashtra
42	Shri Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar Bharat Ratna 2014	Sports Maharashtra
43	Prof. C. N. R. Rao Bharat Ratna 2014	Science and Engineering Karnataka
44	Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Bharat Ratna 2015	Public Affairs Delhi
45	Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya Bharat Ratna 2015	Public Affairs Uttar Pradesh
46	Shri Pranab Mukherjee Bharat Ratna 2019	Public Affairs Delhi
47	Dr. Bhupen Hazarika (Posthumous) Bharat Ratna 2019	Art Assam
48	Shri Nanaji Deshmukh (Posthumous) Bharat Ratna 2019	Social Work Maharashtra

Bharat Ratna recipients image gallery

List of Bharat Ratna Awardee

Frequently asked questions regarding Bharat Ratna