1 | P a g e
List of Gallantry Awards in India for Banking & SSC Exams
Gallantry Awards are meant for exceptional courage, valour and dignity. In India, the Gallantry Awards are given to the personnel of the forces for their exceptional bravery. This article will help you know and remember the Gallantry Awards, its types and its recipients and prepare well for the competitive Exams.
You should know about the key facts before going through the recipients of the Gallantry Awards.
• After Independence, the three Gallantry Awards came into existence namely the Param Vir Chakra, the Maha Vir Chakra and the Vir Chakra.
• These awards were instituted by the Government of India on 26th January 1950. • These awards were deemed to have effect from the 15th August 1947. • On 4th January 1952, other three Gallantry Awards i.e. Ashoka Chakra Class-I, Ashoka
Chakra Class-II and Ashoka Chakra Class-III were instituted. • Later, these awards were renamed as Ashoka Chakra, Kirti Chakra and Shaurya
Chakra respectively in January 1967. • All the Gallantry Awards may be awarded posthumously.
These Gallantry Awards are announced twice in a year - first on the occasion of the Republic Day and then on the occasion of the Independence Day. The order of precedence of these awards is as follows:
1. Param Vir Chakra 2. Ashoka Chakra 3. Mahavir Chakra 4. Kirti Chakra 5. Vir Chakra 6. Shaurya Chakra
Awards Medals
Paramvir Chakra
2 | P a g e
Mahavir Chakra
Vir Chakra
Ashoka Chakra
Kirti Chakra
Shaurya Chakra
3 | P a g e
Selection Process for Gallantry Awards
The selection process for giving out Gallantry Awards is as follows:
1. The Ministry of Defence invites recommendations twice in a year from the Armed Forces and Union Ministry of Home Affairs for Gallantry Awards.
2. These recommendations are invited normally in the month of August for the awards to be announced on the occasion of Republic Day.
3. Moreover, for the awards to be announced on the occasion of the Independence Day, the recommendations are invited in the month of March.
The main process is as follows:
1. In respect of the Armed Forces, a case for the Gallantry Award is initiated by the Unit. 2. If the recommendations are found suitable then it is forwarded to respective Services HQrs
duly recommended by Commanders in the chain immediately after the act of gallantry is performed.
3. All these proposals are then considered by the Awards Committee at Services HQs before recommending the proposals to the Ministry of Defence with the approval of the respective Chiefs.
4. However, recommendations in respect of civilian citizens other than Defence personnel are received from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
Selection Criteria for Gallantry Awards Param Vir Chakra, Maha Vir Chakra & Vir Chakra
• Param Vir Chakra is awarded for most conspicuous bravery or some daring or pre-eminent act of valor or self-sacrifice, in the presence of the enemy, whether on land, at sea, or in the air.
• Maha Vir Chakra is awarded for acts of conspicuous gallantry in the presence of the enemy whether on land, at sea or in the air.
• Vir Chakra is awarded for acts of gallantry in the presence of the enemy, whether on land or at sea or in the air.
Ashoka Chakra, Kirti Chakra & Shaurya Chakra
• Ashoka Chakra is awarded for most conspicuous bravery or some act of daring or pre-eminent act of valor or self-sacrifice otherwise than in the face of the enemy.
• Kirti Chakra is awarded for conspicuous gallantry otherwise than in the face of the enemy. • Shaurya Chakra is awarded for gallantry otherwise than in the face of the enemy.
List of Gallantry Awards in India #1. Paramvir Chakra
Param Vir Chakra (PVC) is India's highest military decoration awarded for the displaying distinguished acts of valor during the war. The name of the award means the "Wheel of the Ultimate
4 | P a g e
Brave". Moreover, PVC is equivalent to the Medal of Honor in the United States and the Victoria Cross in the United Kingdom.
Medal: The medal is circular in shape, made of bronze, one and three-eighth inches in diameter. On its reverse, it shall have embossed “PARAM VIR CHAKRA” both in Hindi and in English with two lotus flowers between the inscriptions.
Ribbon: Plain purple colored ribbon.
Some important Recipients
• Somnath Sharma- 1947 • Jadu Nath Singh- 1948 • Yogendra Singh Yadav- 1999 • Sanjay Kumar- 1999 • Vikram Batra-1999
#2. Mahavir Chakra
Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) is literally called a great warrior medal. It is the second highest military decoration in India, after the Param Vir Chakra, This is awarded for acts of conspicuous gallantry in the presence of the enemy, whether on land, at sea or in the air. Also, it replaced the British Distinguished Service Order (DSO). The medal may be awarded posthumously.
Medal: The medal is circular in shape and of standard silver, one and three-eighth inches in diameter. On the reverse, it shall have embossed “MAHA VIR CHAKRA” both in Hindi and in English with two lotus flowers between the inscriptions.
Ribbon: The ribbon is of a half-white and half-orange color.
Some important Recipients
• LT. Colonel Dewan Ranjit Rai - 1947 • Brigadier Narinder Singh Sandhu - 1971 • Captain Anuj Nayyar - 1999 • Captain Gurjinder Singh Suri - 2001
#3. Vir Chakra
Vir Chakra is an Indian gallantry award presented for acts of bravery in the wars. It is third in precedence in the war time Gallantry Awards and comes after the Param Vir Chakra and Maha Vir Chakra. Moreover, it replaced the British Distinguished Service Cross (DSC), Military Cross (MC) and Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC).
Medal: The medal is Circular in shape and of standard silver, one and three-eighth inches in diameter. On the reverse, it shall have embossed “VIR CHAKRA” both in Hindi and in English with two lotus flowers between the inscriptions.
5 | P a g e
Ribbon: The ribbon is half blue and half orange in color.
Some important Recipients
• Subedar Nadikerianda Bheemaiah - 1947 for Kashmir War • Vice Adm Arun Prakash - 1971 for Operation Cactus Lily • Air Commodore Kuldeep Singh Sahota - 1972 for Pakistan war of 1971 • Colonel Lalit Rai - 1999 for Operation Vijay (1999), Kargil War • Capt. Baleyada Muthanna Cariappa - 2000 for Operation Vijay, Kargil War
#4. Ashoka Chakra
Ashoka Chakra is India's highest peacetime military decoration awarded for valor, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield. It is the peace time equivalent of the Param Vir Chakra. It is awarded for the "most conspicuous bravery or some daring or pre-eminent valor or self-sacrifice" other than in the face of the enemy. The decoration may be awarded either to a military or civilian personnel. This award is equivalent to US Army's peacetime Medal Of Honor and the British George Cross.
Medal: Circular in shape, one and three-eighth inches in diameter, with rims on both sides. The medal will be of gold gild. On its reverse shall be embossed the words “Ashok Chakra” both in Hindi and English the two versions being separated by two lotus flowers.
Ribbon: Green color ribbon divided into two equal segments by an orange vertical line.
Some important Recipients
• Suhas Biswas - 1952 • Cyrus Addie Pithawalla - 1981 • Nirbhay Singh - 1985 • Shanti Swarup Rana - 1997 • Hangpan Dada - 2016
#5. Kirti Chakra
Kirti Chakra is an Indian military decoration awarded for valor, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield. It may be awarded to civilians as well as military personnel, including posthumous awards. Moreover, it is the peacetime equivalent of Maha Vir Chakra. Therefore, it is second in order of precedence of peacetime Gallantry Awards; it comes after Ashoka Chakra and before Shaurya Chakra. the award was known as the Ashoka Chakra, Class II V before 1967.
Medal: The medal is circular in shape and of standard silver, one and three-eighth inches in diameter, with rims on both sides. Also, on its reverse shall be embossed the words “KIRTI CHAKRA” both in Hindi and English, the two versions being separated by two lotus flowers.
Ribbon: Green color ribbon divided into three equal parts by two orange vertical lines.
6 | P a g e
Some important Recipients
• ORD S/M Bachan Singh - 1962 • PO TAS I Gur Iqbal Singh (P) - 1974 • IPS Ajit Doval - 1988 • SP Vinod Kumar Choubey - 2009 • Major Mahesh Kumar - 2013
#6. Shaurya Chakra
Shaurya Chakra is an Indian military decoration awarded for valor, courageous action or self-sacrifice while not engaged in direct action with the enemy. Moreover, it may be awarded to civilians as well as military personnel. This is awarded for Counter-Insurgency operations and actions against the enemy during peace-time. Moreover, this is the peacetime equivalent of the Vir Chakra. This is third in order of precedence of peacetime Gallantry Awards. It comes after the Ashoka Chakra and the Kirti Chakra and precedes the Sena Medal. The award was known as Ashoka Chakra, Class III before 1967.
Medal: The medal is circular in shape and made of bronze, one and three-eighth inches in diameter, with rims on both sides. On its reverse shall be embossed the words “SHAURYA CHAKRA” both in Hindi and English, the two versions being separated by two lotus flowers.
Ribbon: Green color ribbon divided into four equal parts by three vertical lines.
Some important Recipients
• Colonel Neeraj Sood - 2011 • Major Shalender - 2012 • Captain Dinesh Kumar - 2013 • Major Gaurav Thakur - 2014 • Lt Col Sankalp Kumar - 2015
List of Gallantry Awards and other Decorations – 2019
Kirti Chakra
Name of Person Field
Sapper Prakash Jadhav, The Corps Of Engineers/First Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles (posthumous)
Army
Shri Harshpal Singh, Dy Commandant - CRPF.
Vir Chakra
Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, Flying (Pilot) Air Force.
7 | P a g e
Shaurya Chakra
Lieutenant Colonel Ajay Singh Kushwah, The Jammu And Kashmir Rifles/3rd Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Major Vibhuti Shankar Dhoundiyal, The Corps Of Electronic And Mechanical Engineers/55th Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles (posthumous)
Army
Captain Maheshkumar Bhure, The Corps Of Engineers/34th Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles Army
Lance Naik Sandeep Singh, 4th Battalion The Parachute Regiment (special Forces) (posthumous)
Army
Sepoy Brajesh Kumar, The Punjab Regiment/22nd Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles (posthumous)
Army
Sepoy Hari Singh, The Grenadiers/55th Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles (posthumous Army
Rifleman Ajveer Singh Chauhan, 6th Battalion The Garhwal Rifles Army
. Rifleman Shive Kumar, The Jammu And Kashmir Light Infantry/31st Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles (posthumous)
Army.
Amit Singh Rana Navy
Shri Sable Dnyaneshwar Shriram, Constable CRPF
Shri Zaker Hussain, Constable CRPF
Shri Ashiq Hussain Malik, Special Police Official (posthumous) MHA
Shri Subash Chander, Head Constable J&K MHA
Shri Imran Hussain Tak, Sub Inspector (posthumous) MHA
Bar To Sena Medal (gallantry)
Colonel Ashutosh Sharma, Sena Medal Brigade Of The Guards/21st Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Major K Naveen Reddy, Sena Medal The Corps Of Engineers/42nd Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Major Sagar Prakash Pardeshi, Sena Medal The Armoured Corps/22nd Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Major Tasou Prao, Sena Medal The Jammu And Kashmir Rifles/3rd Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
. Major Md Sahwaj Alam, Sena Medal The Assam Regiment/42nd Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Major Kaustubh Prakashkumar Rane, Sena Medal The Garhwal Rifles/36th
Army
8 | P a g e
Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles (posthumous) . Major Manish Kumar Singh, Sena Medal The Engineer Regiment/53rd Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Sepoy Sunil Kumar, Sena Medal 20th Battalion The Jat Regiment
Army
Sena Medal(gallantry) Lieutenant Colonel Rajesh Choudhary 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment (special Forces)
Army
. Lieutenant Colonel Bhagwan Singh Bisht The Parachute Regiment/31st Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
. Lieutenant Colonel Punyabachi Mohanty 9th Battalion The Parachute Regiment (special Forces)
Army
Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Raza Israil 9th Battalion The Parachute Regiment (special Forces)
Army
Lieutenant Colonel Amrendra Prasad Dwivedi The Assam Regiment/42nd Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
. Lieutenant Thaiba Simon First Battalion The Parachute Regiment (special Forces)
Army
Major Sandeep Washisht The Parachute Regiment/31st Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
6. Major Jaswinder Singh, The Punjab Regiment/53rd Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Major Vikas Katoch, The Jammu And Kashmir Rifles/52nd Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Major Revinder Bhakher, 9th Battalion The Parachute Regiment (special Forces)
Army
Major Udayan Thakur, The Army Service Corps/50th Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Major Vijesh Kumar, The Mahar Regiment/first Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Major Sachin Kumar Agarwal, The Mahar Regiment/30th Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Major Chitresh Bisht, The Corps Of Engineers/55th Engineer Regiment (posthumous)
Army
9 | P a g e
. Major Kh Shem, The Jat Regiment/5th Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Major Ashish Kumar, 4th Battalion The Parachute Regiment (special Forces)
Army
Major Happy Charak, 9th Battalion The Rajputana Rifles
Army
Major Yogesh Pandey, The Corps Of Engineers/9th Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Major Laxman Singh, The Mechanized Infantry/9th Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Major Patharkar Anand Sharad, Brigade Of The Guards/50th Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Major Javalkar Vaibhav Pramod, The Armoured Corps/55th Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Major Soham Bhattacharjee, The Corps Of Engineers/first Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Major Shakti Singh, 23rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment
Army
Major Inder Preet Singh, The Armoured Corps/22nd Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Captain Shiv Kumar Sharma, 9th Battalion The Parachute Regiment (special Forces)
Army
Captain Kunal Kumar, 21st Battalion The Parachute Regiment (special Forces)
Army
Captain Prateek Ranjangaonkar, The Assam Regiment/42nd Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Captain Saurabh Patni, The Corps Of Signals/55th Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Captain Ashish Gedion Paudel, 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment (special Forces)
Army
Subedar Trilok Singh, 3rd Battalion The Jammu And Kashmir Rifles
Army
Naib Subedar Tara Chand, 16th Battalion The Assam Rifles
Army
Naib Subedar Ravinder Singh, First Battalion The Parachute Regiment (special Forces)
Army
10 | P a g e
Naib Subedar Jai Dev 9th Battalion The Parachute Regiment (special Forces)
Army
Battery Havildar Major Hans Raj, The Corps Of Artillery/66th Medium Regiment
Army
Havildar Sandeep Malik, 12th Battalion The Parachute Regiment (special Forces)
Army
Havildar Balinder Singh, 4th Battalion The Parachute Regiment (special Forces)
Army
Havildar Baljeet, The Mechanised Infantry/50th Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Havildar Bhupendra Singh, 23rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment
Army
Havildar Ajay Kumar Rana, The Punjab Regiment/53rd Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Havildar Sheo Ram, The Grenadiers/55th Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles (posthumous)
Army
Havildar Rakesh Kumar, The Jat Regiment/34th Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Havildar Javid Ahmad Chopan, 9th Battalion The Parachute Regiment (special Forces)
Army
Lance Havildar Vijay Kumar, 23rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment (posthumous)
Army
Lance Havildar Sandeep Kumar, 23rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment
Army
Naik Ashwani Kumar, 9th Battalion The Parachute Regiment (special Forces)
Army
Naik Jankar Singh, The Jammu And Kashmir Rifles/3rd Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Naik Sunny Thakur, The Mechanized Infantry/42nd Battalion Mechanished
Army
Naik Ramesh Kumar, 20th Battalion The Jat Regiment
Army
Naik Narendra Kumar, The Jat Regiment/5th Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Naik Santosh Singh, 9th Battalion The Parachute Regiment (special Forces)
Army
Lance Naik Sombir, 23rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment
Army
11 | P a g e
Lance Naik Jagtar Singh, The Punjab Regiment/22nd Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Lance Naik Surendra Singh, 4th Battalion The Parachute Regiment (special Forces)
Army
Lance Naik Anuj Kumar, The Mahar Regiment/first Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Sepoy Kulwinder Singh, The Mechanized Infantry/42nd Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Sepoy Jagmohan Singh, The Mechanized Infantry/42nd Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Sepoy Samaresh Dey, The Mechanized Infantry/50th Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Sepoy Suhail Singh Saini, The Mechanized Infantry/42nd Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Sepoy S Vigi Bhaskar, 12th Battalion The Madras Regiment
Army
Grenadier Tawseef Yousuf, The Grenadiers/55th Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Grenadier Ajay Kumar, The Grenadiers/55th Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles (posthumous)
Army
Sepoy Penta Nithin Paul, 24th Battalion The Maratha Light Infantry
Army
Sepoy Sunil, The Jat Regiment/34th Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Sepoy Rinku, The Jat Regiment/34th Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Sepoy Sushil Singh Kalakoti, The Kumaon Regiment/50th Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Sepoy Rajveer Singh Yadav, The Kumaon Regiment/50th Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Sepoy Pankaj Boro, The Assam Regiment/42nd Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles.
Army
Sepoy Rahul Das, The Assam Regiment/42nd Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
12 | P a g e
Sepoy Gulshan Singh, The Sikh Light Infantry/19th Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Sepoy Happy Singh, The Sikh Light Infantry/19th Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles (posthumous)
Army
Sepoy Yogendra Kumar, The Mahar Regiment/first Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Rifleman Ramesh Singh Dhami, 3rd Battalion The Jammu And Kashmir Rifles
Army
Rifleman Rupen Pradhan, 3rd Battalion The Jammu And Kashmir Rifles
Army
Rifleman Surinder Kumar, The Jammu And Kashmir Rifles/3rd Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Rifleman Pradeep Kumar, The Rajputana Rifles/9th Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Rifleman Mandeep Singh Rawat, The Garhwal Rifles/36th Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles (posthumous)
Army
Rifleman Preetam Singh, 6th Battalion The Garhwal Rifles
Army
Rifleman Rayees Ah Lone, The Jammu And Kashmir Light Infantry/50th Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Rifleman Ningthoujam Subhachandra Singh, 31st Battalion The Assam Rifles (posthumous)
Army
Grenadier Karam Chand, 5th Battalion The Grenadiers
Army
Paratrooper Vikram Singh Mehta, 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment (special Forces)
Army
Paratrooper Rajendra Singh, 9th Battalion The Parachute Regiument (special Forces)
Army
Paratrooper Naseeb Kumar, 10th Battalion The Parachute Regiment (special Forces)
Army
Paratrooper Gopal Singh, 10th Battalion The Parachute Regiment (special Forces)
Army
Paratrooper Tarung Sitang, 9th Battalion The Parachute Regiment (special Forces)
Army
Sowar Kishan Singh, The Armoured Corps/55th Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles (posthumous)
Army
13 | P a g e
Signalman Manvendra Singh, The Corps Of Signals/3rd Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Sapper P Madhu, The Corps Of Engineers/first Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Sapper P Babu, The Mahar Regiment/first Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Sapper Rahul Chavan, The Engineer Regiment/first Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles
Army
Nao Sena Medal (gallantry) Group Captain Saumitra Tamaskar, Flying (pilot)
Air Force
Wing Commander Pranav Raj, Flying (pilot)
Air Force
Wing Commander Amit Ranjan, Flying (pilot)
Air Force
Squadron Leader Rahul Basoya, Flying (pilot)
Air Force
Squadron Leader Pankaj Arvind Bhujade, Flying (pilot)
Air Force
Squadron Leader B Karthik Narayan Reddy, Flying (pilot)
Air Force
Squadron Leader Shashank Singh, Flying (pilot)
Air Force
Yudh Seva Medal Air Commodore Sunil Kashinath Vidhate, AVSM VM Flying (pilot)
Air Force
Group Captain Yeshpal Singh Negi, VM VSM Flying (pilot)
Air Force.
Group Captain Hemant Kumar, Flying (pilot)
Air Force
Group Captain Hansel Joseph Sequeira, Flying (pilot)
Air Force
Squadron Leader Minty Aggarwal, Administration/fighter Controller
Air Force
In addition, President Ram Nath Kovind has also awarded one President's Tatrakshak Medal (Distinguished Service), five Tatrakshak Medals (Gallantry) and two Tatrakshak Medal (Meritorious Service) to the following Indian Coast Guard personnel for their act of conspicuous gallantry and distinguished/meritorious service.
The detailed list of the awardees is as follows:
(a) President's Tatrakshak Medal (Distinguished Service)
14 | P a g e
(i) IG Thekkumpurath Prabhakaran Sadanandan, TM (4017-D).
(b) Tatrakshak Medal (Gallantry)
(i) DIG Yoginder Dhaka (0420-D).
(ii) Comdt Anurup Singh (0620-J).
(iii) Dy Comdt Utkersh Sharma (1189-C).
(iv) Satish, P/Adh(RP), 2816-Z.
(v) Trinatha Behera, U/Adh(R), 03608-Z.
(c) Tatrakshak Medal (Meritorious Service)
(i) IG Maneesh Vishal Pathak (0241-V).
(ii) DIG Neeraj Tiwari (0269-L).
These awards are being given to the personnel of Indian Coast Guard on Republic Day and Independence Day every year, since January 26, 1990 onwards.