Bharat Ratna

Instituted - January 2, 1954

1st Awardees Announced - January 26, 1954.

Highest civilian award in India.

It is awarded in recognition of exceptional

service towards any field of human endeavour.
 The award was originally limited to
achievements in the arts, literature, science,
and public services, but the Government of
India expanded the criteria to include "any
field of human endeavor" in December 2011.

Total Bharat Ratna - 50

 Bharat Ratna Award Winner 2024

1) Karpoori Thakur, a renowned socialist

leader and former Chief Minister of Bihar, is
set to be posthumously conferred with the
Bharat Ratna.

The announcement of this prestigious honor

coincides with the eve of his 100th birth
anniversary.
2) Lal Krishna Advani ( 50th Award)

On 3rd February 2024, Prime Minister Narendra

Modi revealed that Lal Krishna Advani, the
veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, will
be conferred with the prestigious Bharat Ratna
award.

This recognition marks a significant honor for

Advani’s contributions to Indian politics and
public life.
 WHO DECIDES?

The recommendations for Bharat Ratna are made

by the Prime Minister to the President.

The number of yearly awards is constrained to a

maximum of three in a specific year.

The award is officially conferred by the

President of India.
 Award composition

Medal (Bronze) is in the shape of a peepal leaf

Bharat Ratna is Written in Devanagari Script

along with Image of sun on a Peepal leaf.

Featuring the State emblem of India along with

the inspiring inscription “Satyamev Jayate.”
Certificate signed by the President of India.

There is no cash component in the award.

The holders of the Bharat Ratna rank seventh in the

Indian order of precedence.
It is also not mandatory that Bharat Ratna be
awarded every year.

Also, there is no written provision that Bharat

Ratna should be awarded to Indian citizens
only.

Can be granted posthumously

The 1954 statutes did not allow posthumous

awards, but this was subsequently modified
in the January 1955 statute.
Notable Recipients of Bharat Ratna
 First recipients of the Bharat Ratna

1) C. Rajagopalachari
Tamil Nadu
2) C. V. Raman ( 1st
Scientist ) 1954

3) Sarvepalli
Andhra Pradesh
Radhakrishnan
 First Female Recipient / First female
prime minister of india Recipient

Indira Gandhi 1971 Uttar Pradesh

 First Posthumous Recipient

Lal Bahadur Shastri 1966 Uttar Pradesh

Slogan - “Jai Jawan Jai Kisan”

 First Non-Citizen / Non-Indian/ Foreigner Recipient

Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan 1987 Pakistan

Khudai Khidmatgar Movement or

the Red Shirt Movement
 Youngest Living Receiver

Sachin Tendulkar 2014 Maharashtra

Age – 40

First Sportsperson to Receive Bharat Ratna

 Oldest Recipient

Dhondo Keshav Karve 1958 Maharashtra

Age - 100
 First singer / Musician recipient

M. S. Subbulakshmi 1998 Tamil Nadu

 First prime minister of india to receive Bharat Ratna

Jawaharlal Nehru 1955 Uttar Pradesh

 First chief minister of india
to receive Bharat Ratna

C. Rajagopalachari 1954 Tamil Nadu

First Governor to Received Bharat Ratna

(Governor of West Bengal from 1947 to 1948)

Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for over two years,

between 1952 and 1954.
 First Vice-President to Received Bharat Ratna

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
 Meet the Only 5 Women who have
been awarded the Bharat Ratna
Name Year State Name

Indira Gandhi (1ST) 1971 Uttar Pradesh

West Bengal
Mother Teresa 1980
(North Macedonia)
Aruna Asaf Ali ( Host Indian flag during the Quit
1997 West Bengal
India Movement in 1942)
M.S. Subbulakshmi ( 1st Musician to be honored ) 1998 Tamil Nadu
Lata Mangeshkar 2001 Maharashtra
 President Honoured With Bharat Ratna till 2024

1) Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan ( 1954 )

2) Rajendra Prasad ( 1962 )

3) Zakir Hussain (1963)

4) VV Giri (1975)

5) APJ Abdul Kalam ( 1997)

6) Pranab Mukherjee ( 2019 )

 Non-India-born people with Bharat Ratna

1) Mother Teresa (Albania-born, naturalized

Indian citizen) was awarded in 1980

2) Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (Pakistani

citizen) was awarded in 1987

3) Nelson Mandela (South African citizen)

was awarded in 1990
 Bharat Ratna winners who won the Nobel Prize

1) CV Raman (Nobel Prize in Physics in

1930; Bharat Ratna in 1954)

2) Mother Teresa (Nobel Peace Prize in

1979; Bharat Ratna in 1980)

3) Amartya Sen (Nobel Prize in Economics

in 1998; Bharat Ratna in 1999)
 Famous Bharat Ratna Awards
1) Dr. Bhim Rao Ramji Ambedkar (Posthumous): 1990

2) Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (Posthumous): 1991

3) Morarji Ranchodji Desai: 1991

 List of Bharat Ratna Awardees

Bharat Ratna 1954 1) C. Rajagopalachari Activist, statesman, and

lawyer
2) Sarvapalli India’s first Vice-
Radhakrishnan President and second
President

3) C. V. Raman Physicists,
mathematicians, and
scientists
Bharat Ratna 4) Bhagwan Das Activist, philosopher,
1955 and educationist

5) M. Visvesvaraya Civil engineer,

statesman, and Diwan
of Mysore

6) Jawaharlal Nehru Activist and author

served as the Prime
Minister of India
Bharat Ratna 7) Govind Ballabh Activist and first Chief
1957 Pant Minister of Uttar
Pradesh
Bharat Ratna 8) Dhondo Keshav Social reformer and
1958 Karve educator

Bharat Ratna 9) Bidhan Chandra Physician, political

1961 Roy leader, philanthropist,
educationist, and
social worker
10) Purushottam Das Activist and speaker
Tandon of the United
Provinces Legislative
Assembly
Bharat Ratna 1962 11) Rajendra Activist, lawyer, statesman,
Prasad and scholar
Bharat Ratna 1963 12) Zakir Husain Activist, economist, and
education philosopher
served as a Vice-Chancellor
of Aligarh Muslim University
and the Governor of Bihar

13) Pandurang Indologist and Sanskrit

Vaman Kane scholar, known for his five-
volume literary work
Bharat Ratna 14) Lal Bahadur Activist and served as
1966 Shastri the second Prime
Minister of India

Bharat Ratna 15) Indira Gandhi First women Prime

1971 Minister of India

Bharat Ratna 16) V. V. Giri Trade Unionist

1975
Bharat Ratna 17) K. Kamaraj Independence activist
1976 and statesman,
former Chief Minister
of Tamil Nadu

Bharat Ratna 18) Mother Catholic nun and the

1980 Teresa founder of the
Missionaries of
Charity.
Bharat Ratna 19) Vinoba Bhave Activist, social
1983 reformer, and a close
associate of Mahatma
Gandhi
Bharat Ratna 20) Khan Abdul First noncitizen,
1987 Ghaffar Khan independence
activist
Bharat Ratna 21) M. G. Actor turned
1988 Ramachandran politician, Chief
Minister of Tamil
Nadu
Bharat Ratna 22) B.R. Ambedkar Social reformer and
1990 leader of the Dalits

23) Nelson Mandela Leader of the Anti-

Apartheid
Movement in South
Africa, President of
South Africa
Bharat Ratna 24) Rajiv Gandhi Gandhi was the
1991 ninth Prime
Minister of India
serving from 1984
to 1989.

25) Vallabhbhai Activist and

Patel first Deputy Prime
Minister of India

26) Morarji Desai Activist, and Prime

Minister of India
Bharat Ratna 27) Abul Kalam Activist and first
1992 Azad Minister of
education

28) J. R. D. Tata Industrialist,

philanthropist, and
aviation pioneer

29) Satyajit Ray Director,

filmmaker, writer,
novelist
Bharat Ratna 30) Gulzarilal Activist, and
1997 Nanda interim Prime
Minister of India.

31) Aruna Asaf Ali Activist

32) A.P.J Abdul Aerospace and

Kalam defense scientist
Bharat Ratna 33) M. S. Carnatic classical
1998 Subbulakshmi vocalist

34) Activist and

Chidambaram former Minister
Subramaniam of Agriculture of
India

35) Jayaprakash Activist, and

Narayan social reformer
Bharat Ratna 36) Amartya Sen Economist
1999

37) Gopinath Activist

Bordoloi

38) Ravi Shankar Musician, sitar

player
Bharat Ratna 39) Lata Singer
2001 Mangeshkar

40) Bismillah Hindustani

Khan classical shehnai
player
Bharat Ratna 41) Bhimsen Hindustani
2009 Joshi classical vocalist

Bharat Ratna 42) C. N. R. Rao Chemist and

2014 professor, author

43) Sachin Cricketer

Tendulkar
Bharat Ratna 44) Madan Mohan Scholar and
2015 Malaviya educational
reformer.

45) Atal Bihari Elected nine times

Bajpayee to the Lok Sabha,
twice to the Rajya
Sabha, and served
as the Prime
Minister of India
for three terms.
Bharat Ratna 46) Pranab Indian politician,
2019 Mukherjee and senior leader in
the Indian National
Congress.

47) Nanaji A social activist

Deshmukh from India,
education, health,
and rural self-
reliance.
48) Bhupen Indian playback
Hazarika singer, lyricist,
musician, singer,
poet, and filmmaker
from Assam.
 Bharat Ratna 49) Karpoori A renowned socialist
2024 Thakur leader and former
(Posthumously) Chief Minister of Bihar

Bharat Ratna 50) Lal Krishna A Veteran Bhartiya

2024 Advani Janta Party Leader