Winning awards, getting compliments, medals, or trophies are great motivations for true talents. Every country bestows awards for skilled individuals to honor their contributions. In that case, there are many different types of national awards in India to appreciate their countrymen.
India is the seventh-largest diverse country with many talents. The government of India is proud to present and recognize the great work and contribution of people to their country.
Every year they select many skilled persons with the help of experienced committee members and announce the best individual as winners.
Now, it’s time to know about the different classifications of awards, which are presented in India.
Civilian Awards
Civilian awards were established 69 years ago on January 2, 1954. They are majorly classified into two types, Bharat Ratna and Padma awards.
Bharat Ratna: Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian award of India and the name indicates Jewel of India. It is presented by president of India. Honorable Bharat Ratna was first won by Mr. C. Rajagopalachari who was a former chief minister of Tamil Nadu and the only governor-general of India.
Padma Vibhushan: It is the highest recognition among Padma awards that comes after Bharat Ratna. Padma Vibhushan is given for exceptional and distinguished services excluded scientists and doctors, irrespective of race, occupation, gender, or position.
First recipient – Satyendra Nath Bose in 1954
Padma Bhushan: Padma Bhushan is presented for distinguished service of higher order and excludes those who work in PSU (Public Sector Undertakings). And also, it includes scientists and doctors as recipients.
Padma Shri: Padma Shree is given on every republic day by Govt. of India. It is recognition for the contribution of well-versed talents in many different fields including arts, public affairs, acting, arts, education, literature, science, and social service.
Gallantry Awards
Gallantry awards are also known as military awards. Recognizing the bravery, courage, and valor of the army people is the motto of these awards. It’s the responsibility of government to honor military officers because they sacrifice their life for welfare of the country.
Eligibility
Officers of all ranks of any Reserve Force, Territorial Army, Militia, Army, Navy, Air Force, and any constituted force can become a recipient.
Indian government presents two national award categories as War-time and peace-time.
War-Time Gallantry
Param Vir Chakra: Awards to recognize wartime valor and is the highest military decoration.
Maha Vir Chakra: It is given to the military officer who expressed courage and valor during the presence of the enemy on the battlefield.
Peace Time Gallantry
Ashoka Chakra: Ashok Chakra is the highest peacetime military decoration and is equivalent to Param Vir Chakra.
Kirti Chakra: It is awarded for valor or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield which is similar to the Maha Vir Chakra.
Shaurya Chakra: This award is given for courageous action or self-sacrifice when army men are not directly involved in the action with the enemy.
National Sports Awards
National sports awards are handover to excellent players and coaches who are active or retired. It is primarily divided into four categories, let’s explore them in detail.
Major Dhyanchand Khel Ratna Award
This award has interesting history and was named after successful hockey player Dhyan Chand. He extended his career for 20 years from 1926 to 1948. And in between 1992 – 2021, this award is known by the former Indian president’s name Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna.
Committee members choose awardees by their performance in international level games such as Commonwealth, Asian, Olympics, and Paralympics games. It is presented by the Ministry of youth affairs and Sports and is the highest honoring award in India.
First recipient – chess grandmaster Viswanathan Anand
Young recipient – sport shooter Abhinav Bindra
Arjuna Award
Most people are familiar with this award because it is named after an epic Mahabharata character Arjuna and given to honor an excellent player in any game category. He is the best student of Guru Dhronacharya and a skilled warrior of ancient India.
This sports honor award was first presented in 1961 and encloses a certificate, ceremonial dress, and cash prize of 15 lahks with a statue of Arjuna.
Dronacharya Award
Teachers can break or make the future of their students. In that case, guiding the students on the path to a bright future is the fundamental responsibility of teachers.
For such teachers, the government of India presents a Dronacharya award, named after Dronacharya, great preceptor of Pandavas and Kuravas. This award was initiated in 1985 and is given to outstanding sports coaches of different games.
Some of the notable winners are Mohinder Singh Dhillon, Dharmendra Tiwari, Shiv Singh, and Purushottam Rai
Dhyan Chand Award
Don’t get confused with Major Dhyanchand Khel Ratna Award, because both are different. It is given for lifetime achievements in games and sports.
The nominees can be active or retired players and they get a hockey statue award, a certificate, a ceremonial dress, and a cash price of 10 lakh.
Literary Awards
India is a developing country, which values studies as well as extracurricular activities. Country people always give warm welcome to true talents and government honors them with special awards and prizes.
Jnanpith Award
Consistency is essential to achieve important goals in life. In that instance, Jnanpith award nominees are selected for their consistent best literary collections and not based on a single book.
Jnanpith Awards are also known as Gyanpeeth Awards, because it is given by Gyanpeeth Trust to writers. They present this award to honor and respect outstanding literary works in officially recognized language of India.
It was introduced on 1961, May 22 and winners hold a cash price of 11 lahks, a bronze statue of goddess Vagdevi (Saraswati), and a citation.
Sahitya Akademi Fellowship
It lines up after the Jnanpith Awards in the literary national award list and was introduced in 1968. Sahitya Akademi fellowship award is conferred by National Academy of Letter of Govt. of India.
Few notable recipients of fellowship awards are Amrita Pritam, Mahasweta Devi, Girish Karnad, UR Ananthamurthy, and M.T. Vasudevan Nair.
Sahtiya Akademi Awards
Sahitya Akademi awards are the third highest award, which is also presented by sahitya akademi. It is also for honoring and encouraging the best author’s innovative literary work that is in any recognized language of India. Award includes a cash price of one lakh rupees with a plaque.
Bottom Lines
Awards are essential for every skilled individual to lift their life to the next level and encourage them to contribute more. These are the different awards types in India presented in various categories to appreciate true talent irrespective of gender, religion, position, caste, and occupation. In conclusion, everyone is talented and blessed with some skills, but rewards and honors knock on the doors of deserving people. So practice regularly and express it without hesitation when you got an opportunity to hold some awards and enjoy proud moments.
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