of India confers four different civilian awards. Here is an explainer on what
they are, who are they given to and award trends so far. Civilian awards are conferred by the Government of India to honour and recognise thecontributions of Indian citizens in various fields. The highest civilian awardin India is the Bharat Ratna. This is followed by Padma Vibhushan, PadmaBhushan and Padma Shri in the same order. These awards are announced on the eveof Republic Day every year. No distinction is made on grounds of religion,race, gender or sex. The awards are conferred by the President of India inceremonial functions held at Rashtrapathi Bhavan. Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian award conferred in India Bharat Ratna was constituted in 1954. This awardis conferred to individuals as a ’recognition of their exceptional service/ performance of the highest order in any field of human endeavour.’ This isthe highest civilian award that is conferred by the Government. Earlier, thosewho contributed towards advancement of science, art and literature, and publicservice were given prominence. However, this was later extended to any field ofhuman endeavour. A maximum of only three Bharat Ratnas can be conferred annually For Bharat Ratna,recommendations are made by the Prime Minister to the President. There is noformal recommendation for this award. The recipients of the award receive acertificate signed by the President of India, called ‘Sanad’ along with amedal. No monetary grant is awarded. The maximum number of Bharat Ratna awardsthat can be conferred in a year is three. Of the total 48 Bharat Ratnas conferred till date, only five recipients were female A total of 48awards have been conferred till 2019. In 1954, Nobel Laureate Sir C V Raman,India’s first Vice President Dr S Radhakrishnan, and founder of SwatantrataParty C Rajagopalachari were conferred with Bharat Ratna. They were the first recipients of the award. Former Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi was the firstfemale recipient of this honour. She was conferred with the award in 1971. Tilldate, only five women have received this award. Mother Teresa, Lata Mangeshkar,M S Subbalakshmi and Aruna Asaf Ali are the other female recipients. Nobel Peace Prizewinner, Nelson Mandela, often referred to as the ‘Gandhi of South Africa’, KhanAbdul Gaffar Khan of Pakistan, who is widely known as ‘Frontier Gandhi’, andMother Teresa are the only three Non- Indian citizen recipients. However,Mother Teresa became a naturalised citizen. Though Amartya Sen & PanditRavi Shankar are of Indian origin, they were given the award as being Citizenof UK & USA respectively. In 2019, formerPresident, Pranab Mukherjee, Bhupen Hazarika and Nanaji Dheshmukh wereconferred with the award. Bharat Ratna awardees are extended certain benefits and facilities As per the HomeMinistry’s table of precedence, the recipients ofBharat Ratna are at 7A. This means that the recipients of Bharat Ratna areabove state chief ministers and governors in protocols for official functionsoutside their respective state. They are also issued a diplomatic passport. Factly’s earlierstory on benefits extended to Bharat Ratna recipients is available here. Padma awards were renamed in 1955 Until 1955, BharatRatna and Padma Vibhushan were the two civilian awardsinstituted by the Indian government. Padma Vibhushan had three categories-Pahela Varg, Dusra Varg and Tisra Varg. However, since 1955, these awards wererenamed as Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. These awards have been announcedsince then every year except during 1978, 1979 and 1993 to 1997. Government servants except doctors and scientists are not eligible for Padma awards Padma Vibhushan isawarded for ‘exceptional and distinguished service’ while Padma Bhushan is awarded for ‘distinguishedservice of a high order’. Padma Shri is awarded for ‘distinguished service’. Theawards will be conferred to those who have distinguished themselves in theirrespective fields such as Art, Literature, Education, Social Work, Science,Public Affairs, Medicine, Engineering and any other field. There must be anelement of public service in the achievements of the person who is beingnominated for these awards. Government servants including those working inPublic Sector Undertakings (PSUs) are not eligible for the awards except fordoctors and scientists. Padma awards committee received almost 50,000 recommendations in 2019 The Ministry ofHome Affairs invites recommendations online every year between 01 May and 15 September. Thousands of recommendationsare received from various sources such as ministries, institutes, ministers,MPs as well as private individuals. These are placed before the Padma Awards Committee.