The Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak is a civilian lifesaving award presented by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

. Established on 30 September 1961, the award was originally called the Jeevan Raksha Padak, Class II.

Criteria

The Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak is awarded to civilians to reward saving lives from drowning, fire, or mine accidents. It is awarded for "courage and promptitude under circumstances of very great danger to the life of the rescue". The Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak may be awarded to members of the armed forces, police, or fire services when recognizable acts take place outside beyond the course of their duty. Subsequent awards are recognized by the addition of a

medal bar A medal bar or medal clasp is a thin metal bar attached to the ribbon of a military decoration, civil decoration, or other medal. It most commonly indicates the campaign or operation the recipient received the award for, and multiple bars on the ...

to the ribbon. The medal may be awarded posthumously.

Appearance

The Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak is a circular silver medal in diameter. On the

obverse Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ''o ...

in the centre is an open hand in the

Abhayamudra The Abhayamudrā "gesture of fearlessness" is a mudra, mudrā (gesture) that is the gesture of reassurance and safety, which dispels fear and accords divine protection and bliss in Buddhism and other Indian religions. The right hand is held upr ...

pose with ''Ma Bhai'' above and ''Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak'' below in

Devanagri Devanagari ( ; , , Sanskrit pronunciation: ), also called Nagari (),Kathleen Kuiper (2010), The Culture of India, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, , page 83 is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental writing system), based on the a ...

script. The reverse bears the

Emblem of India The State Emblem of India is the national emblem of the Republic of India and is used by the union government, many state governments, and other government agencies. The emblem is an adaptation of the Lion Capital of Ashoka, an ancient sculptur ...

and the motto ''

Satyameva Jayate Satyameva Jayate (, ) is a part of a ''mantra'' from the Hindu scripture '' Mundaka Upanishad''. Following the independence of India, it was adopted as the national motto of India on 26 January 1950, the day India became a republic. It is inscri ...

''. The ribbon of the medal is red, wide. At the edges are light blue stripes and two green centre stripes in the middle of the ribbon. These colors are meant to represent fire (red), water (blue), and life (green).

References

External links

*{{cite web, title=Bravery Awards, url=http://archive.india.gov.in/myindia/myindia_frame.php?id=16, website=archive.india.gov.in/default.php, publisher=National Portal of India, access-date=17 September 2014 Civil awards and decorations of India Courage awards