Bharat Ratna
Key Takeaway
TheBharat Ratna is India's highest civilian award.
Bharat Ratna
TheBharat Ratna is India's highest civilian award. This award is conferred for ârecognizing exceptional service/performance of the highest order, without distinction of race, occupation, position or sex." There is no provision for the annual mandatory conferral of Bharat Ratna.
As of February 2024, Bharat Ratna has been conferred upon atotal of 53 eminent personalities(51 Indians + 2 Foreigners).
History
The concept of Bharat Ratna was first conceived and instituted byDr. Rajendra PrasadonJanuary 2, 1954.
In the original 1954 edition of the award, there was no statue for the posthumous conferral. It was inJanuary 1966, the government decided to confer the award posthumously.
The Bharat Ratna was initially given in the fields of Arts, Literature, Science, and Public Services. But later in2011, the Government of India decided to remove this limitation and extended it to "any field of human endeavor." The award isnot restricted to Indian citizens only.
The Prime Minister of India makes recommendations of the Bharat Ratna recipients to the President of India, with a maximum of three nominees being awarded per year.
There is no monetary benefit for the award and the recipients will receive aSanad (certificate) signed by the President of India and a peepal leaf-shaped medallioncast inbronze.
However, according toArticle 18 (1) of the Constitution,the award cannot be used as a âprefix or suffixâ to the recipientâs name. He/she may use the following expression in their biodata/letterhead/visiting card, etc. to indicate that he/she is a recipient of the award:
Basic Facts(30)
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Instituted on | January 2, 1954 |
| Max no. of awards per year | 3 |
| Presented by | President of India |
| Shape | Peppal Leaf |
| No. of Posthumous Conferral of Bharat Ratna so far | 7 |
| First Indians to receive Bharat Ratna | Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, C. Rajagopalachari, C. V. Raman & Bhagwan Das(1954) |
| First Indian President to receive  Bharat Ratna | Dr. S. Radhakrishnan(1954) |
| First Indian to receive Bharat Ratna Posthumously | Lal Bahadur Shastri(1966) |
| First Woman awarded with Bharat Ratna | Indira Gandhi(1971) |
| First Indian Prime Minister to confer herself theBharat Ratna | Indira Gandhi(1971)* |
| No. of women who got Bharat Ratna | 5 |
| First Foreigner to win Bharat Ratna | Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan(1987) |
| Two non-Indiansto receive  Bharat Ratna | Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan(1987)&Nelson Mandela(1990) |
| First personto receive the Bharat Ratna from outside of the Asian continent | Nelson Mandela(1990) |
| First Sportsperson to receive Bharat Ratna | Sachin Tendulkar(2014) |
| First Indian Musician to get Bharat Ratna | M.S. Subhalakshmi(1998) |
| First Naturalized Indian citizento receive Bharat Ratna | Mother Theresa(1980) |
| Only Indians who won both the Nobel Prize and Bharat Ratna | Amartya Sen, Mother Theresa&C. V. Raman |
| First & Only Filmmaker who was conferred withBharat Ratna | Satyajit Ray(1992) |
| First & Only Industrialistto receive Bharat Ratna | JRD Tata(1992) |
| First & the Only Actor to beconferred withBharat Ratna | M.G. Ramachandran(1988) |
| Only person of Kerala origin to win Bharat Ratna | M.G. Ramachandran(born in a Malayali family which migrated from Palakkad to Srilanka) |
| The Second Malayali to receiveBharat Ratna | Dr. M.S. Swaminathan |
| First Indian to allegedly nominate himself for Bharat Ratna | Jawaharlal Nehru(1955) |
| Oldest Personto receive Bharat Ratna | Dhondo Keshav Karve(100 years-old, 1958) |
| Youngest Person to receive Bharat Ratna | Sachin Tendulkar(40 years-old) |
| Only incident when Bharat Ratna was withdrawn | Subhas Chandra Bose(1992) |
| The family that has been awarded the Bharat Ratna for three generations | Nehru Family |
| The Indian Presidents who were conferred with Bharat Ratna | Dr. S. Radhakrishnan,Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Dr. Zakir Hussain, V.V. Giri, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam & Pranab Mukherjee |
| The50th recipient of Bharat Ratna | L.K Advani |
* Time-sensitive data â verify for latest information
List of Bharat Ratna Recipients(12)
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| July 1977 | January 1980â Frequent changes in the central government |
| Aug 1992 | December 1995â Challenging the validity of Bharat Ratna recipients in various courts throughout the country viaPILs (Public Interest Litigation) |
| Demand for removal of Mother Theresa's Bharat Ratna raised by RSS citing her alleged proselytizing (religious conversion).đSideNotes:First Mayor of Delhi | Aruna Asaf Ali |
| First Minister of Education | Abul Kalam Azad |
| First Chief Minister of Assam | Gopinath Bordoloi* |
| First Vice President of India | Dr. S. Radhakrishnan* |
| First Deputy Prime Minister of India | Vallabhbhai Patel* |
| Last Governor-General of India | Chakravarti Rajagopalachari* |
| Bard of Brahmaputra | Bhupen Hazarika |
| Missile Man of India | Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam |
| Founder of Banaras University | Madan Mohan Malaviya |
| Engineers' Day in India | September 15, the birthday of Sir Visvesvaraya,Alias of Chandikadas Amritrao Deshmukhâ Nanaji Deshmukh |
* Time-sensitive data â verify for latest information