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	Bharat Ratna
Award Information
Type	Civilian
Category	National
Instituted	1954
Last Awarded	2009
Total Awarded	41
Awarded by	Government of India
Description	An image of the Sun along with the words "Bharat Ratna", inscribed in Devanagari script, on a peepul leaf
First Awardee(s)	Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
Last Awardee(s)	Bhimsen Joshi
	Award Rank
	None ← Bharat Ratna → Padma Vibhushan

Bharat Ratna (Hindi: भारत रत्न, translates to Jewel of India^[1] or Gem of India^[2] 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."^[3] Unlike knights, holders of the Bharat Ratna carry no special title nor any other honorifics, but they do have a place in the Indian order of precedence.

The award was established by the first President of India, Rajendra Prasad, on 2 January 1954.^[4] Along with other major national honours, such as the Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri, the awarding of the Bharat Ratna was suspended from 13 July 1977 to 26 January 1980.

The honour has been awarded to forty one people, a list which includes two non-Indians and a naturalized Indian citizen. Tamil Nadu is the state with the highest number of awardees (9) followed closely by Uttar Pradesh (7).^{[citation needed]} Originally, the specifications for the award called for a circular gold medal carrying the state emblem and motto, among other things. It is uncertain if a design in accordance with the original specifications was ever made. The actual award is designed in the shape of a peepul leaf and carries with the words "Bharat Ratna", inscribed in Devanagari script. The reverse side of the medal carries the state emblem and motto. The award is attached to a two-inch wide ribbon, and was designed to be worn around the recipient's neck.

[edit] History

The order was established by Rajendra Prasad, President of India, on 2 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there have been twelve posthumous awards, including the award to Subhash Chandra Bose in 1992, which was later withdrawn due to a legal technicality, the only case of an award being withdrawn.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 13 July 1977 to 26 January 1980.

The Bharta Ratna Citation, the certificate conferred to Late M. G. Ramachandran

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, Mother Teresa (1980), and two to non-Indians, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1987) and Nelson Mandela (1990). The awarding of this honor though, has frequently been the subject of litigation questioning the constitutional basis of such.

[edit] Controversies

[edit] Award to Subhas Chandra Bose

Indian freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was awarded Bharat Ratna posthumously in 1992. The award was later withdrawn due to a legal technicality. This is the only case of an award being withdrawn. It was withdrawn in response to a Supreme Court of India directive following a Public Interest Litigation filed in the Court against the posthumous nature of the award. The Award Committee could not give conclusive evidence of Bose’s death and thus it invalidated the posthumous award.

[edit] Award to Abul Kalam Azad

When the award was offered to freedom fighter and India's first Minister of Education, Abul Kalam Azad, he promptly declined it saying that it should not be given to those who have been on the selection committee. Later he was awarded posthumously in 1992.^[5]

[edit] 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.

[edit] Living recipients

[edit] Indian recipients

[edit] Foreign recipients

Nelson Mandela (1990)

[edit] Complete list of awardees

S.No	Name	Birth / death	Awarded	Notes	Indian state or country of origin
1.	Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan	1888–1975	1954	Second President, First Vice President, Philosopher.	Tamil Nadu
2.	C. Rajagopalachari	1878–1972	1954	Last Governor-General, independence activist.	Tamil Nadu
3.	C. V. Raman	1888–1970	1954	Nobel-prize winning Physicist	Tamil Nadu
4.	Bhagwan Das	1869–1958	1955	Literature, independence activist	Uttar Pradesh
5.	Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya	1861–1962	1955	Civil Engineer, Dam Architect, Diwan of Princely state of Mysore	Karnataka
6.	Jawaharlal Nehru	1889–1964	1955	First Prime Minister, independence activist, Author.	Uttar Pradesh
7.	Govind Ballabh Pant	1887–1961	1957	independence activist, Home Minister	Uttar Pradesh (now Uttarakhand)
8.	Dhondo Keshav Karve	1858–1962	1958	Educationist, Social Reformer, Awarded in his birth centenary year.	Maharashtra
9.	Bidhan Chandra Roy	1882–1962	1961	Physician, Politician, Former Chief Minister of West Bengal	West Bengal
10.	Purushottam Das Tandon	1882–1962	1961	independence activist, Educationist	Uttar Pradesh
11.	Rajendra Prasad	1884–1963	1962	First President, independence activist, Jurist	Bihar
12.	Zakir Hussain	1897–1969	1963	Former President, Scholar.	Andhra Pradesh
13.	Pandurang Vaman Kane	1880–1972	1963	Indologist and Sanskrit scholar	Maharashtra
14.	Lal Bahadur Shastri	1904–1966	1966	Posthumous, Second Prime Minister, independence activist	Uttar Pradesh
15.	Indira Gandhi	1917–1984	1971	Former Prime Minister	Uttar Pradesh
16.	V. V. Giri	1894–1980	1975	Former President, Trade Unionist.	Tamil Nadu
17.	K. Kamaraj	1903–1975	1976	Posthumous, independence activist, Chief Minister-Tamil Nadu.	Tamil Nadu
18.	Mother Teresa	1910–1997	1980	Nobel Laureate (Peace, 1979).	West Bengal
19.	Vinoba Bhave	1895–1982	1983	Posthumous, Social Reformer, independence activist.	Maharashtra
20.	Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan	1890–1988	1987	First non-citizen, independence activist.	Pakistan
21.	M. G. Ramachandran	1917–1987	1988	Posthumous, Chief Minister-Tamil Nadu, Actor.	Tamil Nadu
22.	B. R. Ambedkar	1891–1956	1990	Posthumous, Architect-Indian Constitution,Social Reformer, Economist and Scholar	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, independence activist, First Home Minister of India.	Gujarat
26.	Morarji Desai	1896–1995	1991	Former Prime Minister, independence activist.	Gujarat
27.	Abul Kalam Azad	1888–1958	1992	Posthumous, independence activist, First Education Minister of India	West Bengal
28.	J. R. D. Tata	1904–1993	1992	Industrialist and philanthropist	Maharashtra
29.	Satyajit Ray	1922–1992	1992	Film director	West Bengal
30.	A. P. J. Abdul Kalam	b. 1931	1997	Former President, scientist.	Tamil Nadu
31.	Gulzarilal Nanda	1898–1998	1997	independence activist, former Prime Minister.	Punjab
32.	Aruna Asaf Ali	1908–1996	1997	Posthumous, independence activist.	West Bengal
33.	M. S. Subbulakshmi	1916–2004	1998	Carnatic music vocalist.	Tamil Nadu
34.	Chidambaram Subramaniam	1910–2000	1998	independence activist, Minister of Agriculture.	Tamil Nadu
35.	Jayaprakash Narayan	1902–1979	1999	Posthumous, independence activist, Social Reformer.	Bihar
36.	Ravi Shankar	b. 1920	1999	Sitar player	West Bengal
37.	Amartya Sen	b. 1933	1999	Nobel-prize winning Economist	West Bengal
38.	Gopinath Bordoloi	1890–1950	1999	Posthumous, independence activist, Chief Minister	Assam
39.	Lata Mangeshkar	b. 1929	2001	Singer	Maharashtra
40.	Bismillah Khan	1916–2006	2001	Classical musician, shehnai maestro	Bihar
41.	Bhimsen Joshi	b. 1922	2008	Hindustani Classical vocalist	Karnataka

[edit] References

^ Mahajan, Vidya Dhar (1971). The Constitution of India. Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh: Eastern Book Company. pp. 169.
^ Hoiberg, Dale; Indu Ramchandani (2000). Students' Britannica India. New Delhi: Encyclopedia Britannica (India). Vol. 3, p198. ISBN 0-85229-760-2.
^ Pylee, Moolamattom Varkey (1971). The Constitution of India. New Delhi: S. Chand & Company Ltd.. pp. 114. ISBN 81-219-2203-8.
^ Dhawan, S. K. (1991). Bharat Ratnas, 1954-1991. Wave Publications. pp. 9.
^ Those who said no to top awards The Times of India, 20 Jan 2008.

[edit] External links

"Bharat Ratna Award". Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. http://india.gov.in/myindia/bharatratna_awards.php.

[0] Mahajan, Vidya Dhar (1971). The Constitution of India. Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh: Eastern Book Company. pp. 169.

[1] Hoiberg, Dale; Indu Ramchandani (2000). Students' Britannica India. New Delhi: Encyclopedia Britannica (India). Vol. 3, p198. ISBN 0-85229-760-2.

[2] Pylee, Moolamattom Varkey (1971). The Constitution of India. New Delhi: S. Chand & Company Ltd.. pp. 114. ISBN 81-219-2203-8.

[3] Dhawan, S. K. (1991). Bharat Ratnas, 1954-1991. Wave Publications. pp. 9.

[4] Those who said no to top awards The Times of India, 20 Jan 2008.

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