Awards of India

India has many national honours. It helps to sort them into four groups.

What are the groups?

• Civilian: the Bharat Ratna and the three Padma Awards. They honour service in many fields.
• Gallantry: the Param Vir Chakra and other awards for courage.
• Sports: the Khel Ratna and other sports awards.
• Arts and literature: awards such as the Jnanpith Award.

Why sort them into groups?

Each group has its own purpose, start date and rules. A question that names an award is easier once you know its group.

Four civilian awards were formally started in January 1954. They are the Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.

How were they started?

The President issued two notifications on 2 January 1954. A notification is an official order. On 8 January 1955 four fresh notifications replaced them. The Supreme Court judgment lists both sets.

What is each award for?

• Bharat Ratna: exceptional service to art, literature and science, and public service of the highest order.
• Padma Vibhushan: exceptional and distinguished service in any field.
• Padma Bhushan: distinguished service of a high order in any field.
• Padma Shri: distinguished service in any field.

Who can win?

Any person can win. Race, job, position and sex do not matter. The notifications also allow an award after death. An award after death is called posthumous.

The Supreme Court said no. It decided this on 15 December 1995.

Why did the question come up?

Article 18(1) of the Constitution says no title can be conferred by the State. Military and academic distinctions are the exception. Some people argued that the awards were titles in disguise.

Who brought the case?

Balaji Raghavan filed a petition in the Kerala High Court on 13 February 1992. S.P. Anand filed a similar one in the Madhya Pradesh High Court, Indore Bench. The Supreme Court heard both together.

What did the court decide?

The awards are not titles. But they must not be used as a prefix or suffix to a name. A person who does so can lose the award under Regulation 10 of the notifications.

Had the government said this before?

Yes. A press note of 17 April 1968 said the awards are not titles. It also said they should not appear on letterheads or invitation cards.

They were stopped once by the government and once by a court order.

What happened in 1977?

The National Awards were cancelled on 8 August 1977 by Notification No. 65-Pres./77. The Government revived them on 25 January 1980. Since then they have been conferred every year on Republic Day.

What happened in 1992?

On 25 August 1992 the Madhya Pradesh High Court passed an order without hearing the government first. It barred the conferring of any National Award until further orders. The same court lifted that order on 20 January 1993.

How did the case end?

The Supreme Court stayed the High Court cases on 17 January 1994. It took both cases on 7 March 1994. It gave its judgment on 15 December 1995.

The 1995 judgment found no clear limit in the guidelines of that time.

What did the Chief Justice say?

The guidelines had no limit on the number of awards in a year. A committee in 1948 had advised limits. The court said restraint had been shown with the Bharat Ratna, but not with the other awards.

What did the court ask for?

It asked for a high level committee to review the guidelines. The committee was to be set up by the Prime Minister in consultation with the President.

What did one judge add?

Justice Kuldip Singh wrote a separate opinion. He suggested a National Committee on Awards. He also wrote that all awards together may not exceed fifty in a year.

Five people received the Bharat Ratna in 2024. Sachin Tendulkar was the first sportsperson to receive it.

Who were the five in 2024?

The Gazette of 30 March 2024 notified four names, all posthumous. They are P.V. Narasimha Rao, Chaudhary Charan Singh, M.S. Swaminathan and Karpoori Thakur. The Gazette of 31 March 2024 notified L.K. Advani.

When were three of them announced?

A Rashtrapati Bhavan press communique of 9 February 2024 named three: Charan Singh, Rao and Swaminathan. The Gazette notice came about seven weeks later.

When did Sachin Tendulkar get it?

Reuters reported that the government announced it after his 200th and final Test ended on Saturday, 16 November 2013. He would be the first sportsperson to get a Bharat Ratna. President Pranab Mukherjee presented it on 4 February 2014.

The government announced 131 Padma Awards for 2026.

How are they split?

There are 5 Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri awards. The magazine says the list includes two joint awards.

What else does the list show?

• Women: 19.
• Foreign, NRI, PIO and OCI category: 6.
• Posthumous: 16.

What is the “People’s Padma”?

New India Samachar says the selection process was changed. It says unsung people who serve quietly now make up the “People’s Padma”. That is the government magazine’s own claim.

It is India’s highest wartime gallantry award. It recognises the highest gallantry in the presence of the enemy.

When was it started?

The Government of India started it on 26 January 1950. Its first recipient was honoured for an action in 1947. So the award came after the deed.

How many have won it?

PIB says 21 people have received it, as at 21 December 2025. Fourteen of the 21 got it after death.

Who was the first recipient?

Major Somnath Sharma. He led the defence of Badgam in Kashmir in November 1947. He marked targets with cloth strips to guide Indian aircraft. His arm was in a plaster cast, yet he kept handing out ammunition.

What does the medal look like?

The medal is round and made of bronze. The state emblem is in the centre. Four copies of Indra’s Vajra surround it. The words “Param Vir Chakra” are on the back in Hindi and English.

Where are the 21 honoured?

On 16 December 2025 the President opened the Param Vir Dirgha at Rashtrapati Bhavan. It shows the portraits of all 21 recipients. It replaced portraits of British aides-de-camp (ADCs).

It is an award for saving a life. The Ministry of Home Affairs says it began in 1961.

What are its classes?

It is an offshoot of the Ashoka Chakra series of gallantry awards. It has three classes. The Ministry’s PDF lists them with the cash amount for each.

• Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak: conspicuous courage in very great danger. Rs 2,00,000.
• Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak: courage and promptitude in great danger. Rs 1,50,000.
• Jeevan Raksha Padak: courage and promptitude in grave bodily injury. Rs 1,00,000.

What happened on 5 August 2026?

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari gave the Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak to 12 rat miners. They had helped to rescue 41 labourers from the collapsed Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand in November 2023. The labourers were trapped for 17 days.

What did the miners do?

Gadkari said a pipe let food and water reach the workers. The 12 miners then entered the narrow space and cleared the debris by hand.

India’s highest sporting honour was renamed on 6 August 2021. It had carried the name of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

What was the new name?

It became the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. PTI called Dhyan Chand a hockey wizard.

Why was it renamed?

The announcement came after the Indian men’s and women’s hockey teams did well at the Tokyo Olympics. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said many citizens had asked for the change.

Where do arts and literature fit?

Their awards form the fourth group. One example is the Jnanpith Award. Its official list shows that G. Sankara Kurup won the first one, for 1965.

What are the key points?

• Groups: civilian, gallantry, sports, and arts and literature.
• Start: civilian awards in January 1954. Param Vir Chakra on 26 January 1950.
• Court: not titles. Do not use them as a prefix or suffix.
• Stops: cancelled 8 August 1977, revived 25 January 1980.
• 2024: five Bharat Ratnas.
• 2026: 131 Padma Awards.
• Renamed: Khel Ratna on 6 August 2021.

What are the traps?

1. Title or not. The awards are not titles. They still must not be used as a prefix or suffix.
2. 1977 to 1980. The awards were cancelled on 8 August 1977 and revived on 25 January 1980.
3. 1992 to 1995. The court order that barred awards ran from 25 August 1992 to 20 January 1993. The judgment came on 15 December 1995.
4. Five in 2024. Two Gazette notices carried the names, on 30 and 31 March.
5. 1947 or 1950. The first Param Vir Chakra action was in 1947. The award began in 1950.
6. Old and new names. The Khel Ratna bears the name of Dhyan Chand since 6 August 2021.