civilian award This list of civil awards and decorations is a partial index to articles about notable civil awards and decorations. It excludes Law enforcement awards and honors and ecclesiastical decorations, which are covered by separate lists. See :Civil aw ...

Bharat Ratna The Bharat Ratna (; ''Jewel of India'') is the highest civilian award of the Republic of India. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conferred in recognition of "exceptional service/performance of the highest order", without distinctio ...

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Mur ...

Republic Day Republic Day is the name of a holiday in several countries to commemorate the day when they became republics. List January 1 January in Slovak Republic The day of creation of Slovak republic. A national holiday since 1993. Officially cal ...

Satyendra Nath Bose Satyendra Nath Bose (; 1 January 1894 – 4 February 1974) was a Bengali mathematician and physicist specializing in theoretical physics. He is best known for his work on quantum mechanics in the early 1920s, in developing the foundation for ...

Nand Lal Bose Nandalal Bose (3 December 1882 – 16 April 1966) was one of the pioneers of modern Indian art and a key figure of Contextual Modernism. A pupil of Abanindranath Tagore, Bose was known for his "Indian style" of painting. He became the princip ...

Zakir Hussain Zakir Hussain ( ur, , link=no) is the name of: * Zakir Husain (politician), an Indian politician and former president of India * Zakir Hussain (actor), Bollywood actor * Zakir Hussain (field hockey) (1934–2019), Pakistani field hockey player * ...

Balasaheb Gangadhar Kher Balasaheb Gangadhar Kher (24 August 1888 – 8 March 1957) was an Indian politician who served as the prime minister of Bombay (1937 - 1939, 1946 - 1947) and the first chief minister (then called Premier) of Bombay State (1947 - 1952). He was a ...

Jigme Dorji Wangchuck Jigme Dorji Wangchuck ( dz, འབྲུག་རྒྱལ་པོ་ འཇིགས་མེད་རྡོ་རྗེ་དབང་ཕྱུག་མཆོག་, ; 2 May 1928 – 21 July 1972) was the 3rd Druk Gyalpo of Bhutan. He began ...

Vilayat Khan Ustad Vilayat Khan (28 August 1928 – 13 March 2004) was an Indian classical sitar player.E. M. S. Namboodiripad, Swami Ranganathananda, and

Manikonda Chalapathi Rau Manikonda Chalapathi Rau (also known as MC and Magnus) (1910 – 25 March 1983) was an Indian journalist and an authority on the Nehruvian thought. Rau was editor of the English-language daily National Herald of Lucknow for over thirty years fr ...

refused the award, the family members of

Lakshmi Chand Jain Lakshmi Chand Jain (1925–2010) was a political activist and writer. Later, he served at various times as a member of the Planning Commission, as Indian High commissioner to South Africa, as a member of the World Commission on Dams (WCD) an ...

(2011) and

Sharad Anantrao Joshi Sharad Anantrao Joshi (3 September 1935 – 12 December 2015) was an Indian politician who founded the Swatantra Bharat Paksh party and ''Shetkari Sanghatana'' (farmers' Organisation), He was also a Member of the Parliament of India representin ...

(2016) declined their posthumous conferments, and

Baba Amte Murlidhar Devidas Amte, popularly known as Baba Amte, (26 December 1914 – 9 February 2008) was an Indian social worker and social activist known particularly for his work for the rehabilitation and empowerment of people suffering from leprosy ...

returned his 1986 conferment in 1991. The most recent Padma Vibhushan Awards were given to 4 individuals, 2 of which were posthumous.

Prabha Atre Prabha Atre (born 13 September 1932) is an Indian classical vocalist from the Kirana gharana. She has been awarded all three of the Padma Awards by the Government of India. Early life and education Atre was born to Abasaheb and Indirabai At ...

, a globally renowned veteran Hindustani classical vocalist from the Kirana Gharana received the award for her contributions to the Arts, Radheshyam Khemka, president of the Gita Press received the award for his contributions to Literature and Education,

General Bipin Rawat General Bipin Rawat (16 March 1958 – 8 December 2021) was an Indian military officer who was a four-star general of the Indian Army. He served as the first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of the Indian Armed Forces from January 2020 unt ...

, former

Chief of Defence Staff (India) The Chief of Defence Staff of the Indian Armed Forces (CDS) is the professional head and permanent Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) of the Indian Armed Forces. The Chief of Defence Staff is the highest-ranking uniformed office ...

and

Chief of the Army Staff (India) The Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) (unofficially known as the Army Chief) is a statutory position in the Indian Army held usually by a four star general. As the highest ranking officer to serve solely in the Indian Army, the chief is the profess ...

received the award posthumously for his contribution to Civil Services and

Kalyan Singh Kalyan Singh (5 January 1932 – 21 August 2021) was an Indian politician and a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He served twice as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and as a Member of Parliament. He was the Chief minister of Utt ...

, a veteran political leader and former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh too received the award posthumously for his contributions to Public Affairs.

History

On 2 January 1954, a press release was published from the office of the secretary to the President of India announcing the creation of two civilian awards—

Bharat Ratna The Bharat Ratna (; ''Jewel of India'') is the highest civilian award of the Republic of India. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conferred in recognition of "exceptional service/performance of the highest order", without distinctio ...

, the highest civilian award, and the three-tier Padma Vibhushan, classified into "Pahela Varg" (Class I), "Dusra Varg" (Class II), and "Tisra Varg" (Class III), which rank below the Bharat Ratna. On 15 January 1955, the Padma Vibhushan was reclassified into three different awards: the Padma Vibhushan, the highest of the three, followed by the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

and the

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

. The award, along with other personal civilian honours, was briefly suspended twice in its history; for the first time in July 1977 when

Morarji Desai Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (29 February 1896 – 10 April 1995) was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the 4th Prime Minister of India between 1977 to 1979 leading the government formed by the Janata Party. During his ...

was sworn in as the fourth Prime Minister of India, for being "worthless and politicized". The suspension was rescinded on 25 January 1980 after Indira Gandhi became the Prime Minister. The civilian awards were suspended again in mid-1992, when two Public-Interest Litigations were filed in the

High Courts of India The high courts of India are the highest courts of appellate jurisdiction in each state and union territory of India. However, a high court exercises its original civil and criminal jurisdiction only if the subordinate courts are not authoriz ...

, one in the Kerala High Court on 13 February 1992 by Balaji Raghavan and another in the

Madhya Pradesh High Court The Madhya Pradesh High Court is the High Court of the state of Madhya Pradesh which is located in Jabalpur. It was established as the Nagpur High Court on 2 January 1936 by Letters Patent dated 2 January 1936, issued under Section 108 the '' ...

(Indore Bench) on 24 August 1992 by Satya Pal Anand. Both petitioners questioned the civilian awards being "titles" per an interpretation of Article 18 (1) of the

Constitution of India The Constitution of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ...

. On 25 August 1992, the Madhya Pradesh High Court issued a notice temporarily suspending all civilian awards. A Special Division Bench of the Supreme Court of India was formed comprising five judges: A. M. Ahmadi C. J., Kuldip Singh, B. P. Jeevan Reddy, N. P. Singh, and S. Saghir Ahmad. On 15 December 1995, the Special Division Bench restored the awards and delivered a judgment that the "Bharat Ratna and Padma awards are not titles under Article 18 of the Constitution of India".

Regulations

The award is conferred for "exceptional and distinguished service", without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex. The criteria include "service in any field including service rendered by Government servants", but excludes those working with the public sector undertakings, with the exception of doctors and scientists. The 1954 statutes did not allow posthumous awards, but this was subsequently modified in the January 1955 statute; Aditya Nath Jha,

Ghulam Mohammed Sadiq __NOTOC__ Ghulam Mohammed Sadiq (1912 – 1971) was an Indian politician, who served as the Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir from 1964 to 1965, when the position was renamed to Chief Minister. He continued as the Chief Minister till his ...

, and

Vikram Sarabhai Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai (12 August 1919 – 30 December 1971) was an Indian physicist and astronomer who initiated space research and helped develop nuclear power in India. He was honoured with Padma Bhushan in 1966 and the Padma Vibhushan ...

became the first recipients to be honoured posthumously in 1972. * * * The recommendations are received from all state and union territory governments, the Ministries of the Government of India, the

Bharat Ratna The Bharat Ratna (; ''Jewel of India'') is the highest civilian award of the Republic of India. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conferred in recognition of "exceptional service/performance of the highest order", without distinctio ...

and previous Padma Vibhushan award recipients, the Institutes of Excellence, the Ministers, the Chief Ministers, the Governors of State, and the Members of Parliament, including private individuals. The recommendations received during 1 May and 15 September of every year are submitted to the Padma Awards Committee, convened by the Prime Minister of India. The Awards Committee later submits its recommendations to the Prime Minister and the President of India for further approval. The Padma Vibhushan award recipients are announced every year on

Republic Day of India Republic Day is a public holiday in India where the country marks and celebrates the date on which the Constitution of India came into effect on 26 January 1950. This replaced the Government of India Act 1935 as the governing document of India ...

and registered in ''

The Gazette of India ''The Gazette of India'' is a public journal and an authorised legal document of the Government of India, published weekly by the Department of Publication, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. As a public journal, the ''Gazette'' prints offi ...

''a publication released weekly by the Department of Publication,

Ministry of Urban Development The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) is a ministry of the Government of India with executive authority over the formulation and administration of the rules and regulations and laws relating to the housing and urban development in Ind ...

used for official government notices. The conferral of the award is not considered official without its publication in the ''Gazette''. Recipients whose awards have been revoked or restored, both of which actions require the authority of the President, are also registered in the ''Gazette'' and are required to surrender their medals when their names are struck from the register.

Specifications

The original 1954 specifications of the award called for a circle made of gold gilt in diameter, with rims on both sides. A centrally located lotus flower was embossed on the obverse side of the medal and the text "Padma Vibhushan" written in

Devanagari 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 ...

script was inscribed above the lotus along the upper edge of the medal. A floral wreath was embossed along the lower edge and a lotus wreath at the top along the upper edge. 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 sculpt ...

was placed in the centre of the reverse side with the text "Desh Seva" in Devanagari Script on the lower edge. The medal was suspended by a pink riband in width divided into two equal segments by a white vertical line. A year later, the design was modified. The current decoration is a circular-shaped bronze toned medallion in diameter and thick. The centrally placed pattern made of outer lines of a square of side is embossed with a knob carved within each of the outer angles of the pattern. A raised circular space of in diameter is placed at the centre of the decoration. A centrally located lotus flower is embossed on the obverse side of the medal and the text "Padma" written in

Devanagari 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 ...

script is placed above and the text "Vibhushan" is placed below the lotus. 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 sculpt ...

is placed in the centre of the reverse side with the national motto of India, " Satyameva Jayate" (Truth alone triumphs), in Devanagari Script, inscribed on the lower edge. The rim, the edges. and all embossing on either side is of white gold with the text "Padma Vibhushan" of silver gilt. The medal is suspended by a pink riband in width. The medal is ranked fourth in the order of precedence of wearing of medals and decorations. The medals are produced at Alipore Mint, Kolkata along with the other civilian and military awards like

Bharat Ratna The Bharat Ratna (; ''Jewel of India'') is the highest civilian award of the Republic of India. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conferred in recognition of "exceptional service/performance of the highest order", without distinctio ...

,

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

,

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

, and Param Veer Chakra.

Recipients

The first recipients of the Padma Vibhushan were

Satyendra Nath Bose Satyendra Nath Bose (; 1 January 1894 – 4 February 1974) was a Bengali mathematician and physicist specializing in theoretical physics. He is best known for his work on quantum mechanics in the early 1920s, in developing the foundation for ...

, Nandalal Bose,

Zakir Husain Zakir Husain Khan (8 February 1897 – 3 May 1969) was an Indian educationist and politician who served as the third president of India from 13 May 1967 until his death on 3 May 1969. Born in Hyderabad in a Afridi Pashtun family, Husain ...

,

Balasaheb Gangadhar Kher Balasaheb Gangadhar Kher (24 August 1888 – 8 March 1957) was an Indian politician who served as the prime minister of Bombay (1937 - 1939, 1946 - 1947) and the first chief minister (then called Premier) of Bombay State (1947 - 1952). He was a ...

, V. K. Krishna Menon, and

Jigme Dorji Wangchuck Jigme Dorji Wangchuck ( dz, འབྲུག་རྒྱལ་པོ་ འཇིགས་མེད་རྡོ་རྗེ་དབང་ཕྱུག་མཆོག་, ; 2 May 1928 – 21 July 1972) was the 3rd Druk Gyalpo of Bhutan. He began ...

, who were honoured in 1954. , the award has been bestowed on 314 individuals, including seventeen posthumous and twenty-one non-citizen recipients. Some of the conferments have been refused or returned by the recipients; P. N. Haksar,

Vilayat Khan Ustad Vilayat Khan (28 August 1928 – 13 March 2004) was an Indian classical sitar player.E. M. S. Namboodiripad, Swami Ranganathananda, and

Manikonda Chalapathi Rau Manikonda Chalapathi Rau (also known as MC and Magnus) (1910 – 25 March 1983) was an Indian journalist and an authority on the Nehruvian thought. Rau was editor of the English-language daily National Herald of Lucknow for over thirty years fr ...

refused the award. The family members of

Lakshmi Chand Jain Lakshmi Chand Jain (1925–2010) was a political activist and writer. Later, he served at various times as a member of the Planning Commission, as Indian High commissioner to South Africa, as a member of the World Commission on Dams (WCD) an ...

(2011) and

Sharad Anantrao Joshi Sharad Anantrao Joshi (3 September 1935 – 12 December 2015) was an Indian politician who founded the Swatantra Bharat Paksh party and ''Shetkari Sanghatana'' (farmers' Organisation), He was also a Member of the Parliament of India representin ...

(2016) declined their posthumous conferments.

Baba Amte Murlidhar Devidas Amte, popularly known as Baba Amte, (26 December 1914 – 9 February 2008) was an Indian social worker and social activist known particularly for his work for the rehabilitation and empowerment of people suffering from leprosy ...

returned his 1986 conferment in 1991.

Explanatory notes

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

* * {{Padma Vibhushan Awards Awards established in 1954 Civil awards and decorations of India