1954 was the commencement year of the Civilian Awards. This award is given by the President of India every year on Republic Day. Civilian Awards are bestowed to an individual who has done par excellence or attained achievements in their respective fields. The Civilian Awards in India include the following awards in their order of honor;
- Bharat Ratna: Highest Civilian Awards in India and is awarded for exceptional performance or services of the highest order.
- Padma Vibhushan: Second Highest Civilian Award in India and is awarded for distinguished and exceptional services.
- Padma Bhushan: Third Highest Civilian Award in India and is awarded for distinguished or different services of a high order.
- Padma Shri: Fourth Civilian Award in India and is awarded for distinguished or different services.
Bharat Ratna
The Bharat Ratna Award is considered the highest civilian award in India. Bharat Ratna Award was constituted on January 2, 1954, is presented to the person for their extraordinary performance or work in their work or field irrespective of their caste, position, gender, race, and occupation. This award was restricted to the achievements in fields like science, trade and industry, sports, art, medicine, public services, education, civil services, and literature but in December 2011 the government ordered that this award be expanded to every human effort in their respective fields. The Prime Minister of India recommended to the President of India 3 nominees for the Bharat Ratna Award.
The beneficiary receives a medal of peepal leaf shape with the President signing a certificate (Sanad). The sun image along with the “Bharat Ratna” word in Devnagari Script is inscribed on the medal and at the back, the symbol of the State Emblem of India is inscribed with the golden words “Satyameva Jayate” in Devanagari Script.
Bharat Ratna winners of India till date
- Pranab Mukherjee (2019)
- Bhupen Hazarika (2019)
- Nanaji Deshmukh (2019)
- Madan Mohan Malaviya (2015)
- Atal Bihari Vajpayee (2015)
- Sachin Tendulkar (2014)
- CNR Rao (2014)
- Pandit Bhimsen Joshi (2008)
- Lata Dinanath Mangeshkar (2001)
- Ustad Bismillah Khan (2001)
- Prof Amartya Sen (1999)
- Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi (1999)
- Loknayak Jayprakash Narayan (1999)
- Pandit Ravi Shankar (1999)
- Chidambaram Subramaniam (1998)
- Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi (1998)
- Dr Abul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (1997)
- Aruna Asaf Ali (1997)
- Gulzari Lal Nanda (1997)
- Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhai Tata (1992)
- Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (1992)
- Satyajit Ray (1992)
- Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (1991)
- Rajiv Gandhi (1991)
- Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (1991)
- Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedakr (1990)
- Dr Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (1990)
- Marudur Gopalan Ramachandran (1988)
- Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1987)
- Acharya Vinoba Bhave (1983)
- Mother Teresa (Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu) (1980)
- Kumaraswamy Kamraj (1976)
- Varahagiri Venkata Giri (1975)
- Indira Gandhi (1971)
- Lal Bahadur Shastri (1966)
- Dr Pandurang Vaman Kane (1963)
- Dr Zakir Hussain (1963)
- Dr Rajendra Prasad (1962)
- Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy (1961)
- Purushottam Das Tandon (1961)
- Dr Dhonde Keshav Karve (1958)
- Pt Govind Ballabh Pant (1957)
- Dr Bhagwan Das (1955)
- Jawaharlal Nehru (1955)
- Dr Mokshagundam Vivesvaraya (1955)
- Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (1954)
- Dr Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (1954)
- Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan (1954)