Bharat Ratna
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The source of this article
INDIA 2012
A REFERENCE ANNUAL
Compiled by
RESEARCH, REFERENCE AND TRAINING DIVISION
PUBLICATIONS DIVISION
MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
Bharat Ratna :
The highest civilion award. It is given for exceptional service towards advancement of Art, Literature and Science and in recognition of public service of the highest order. Since its inception in 1954, 41 persons have been decorated with Bharat Ratna so far.
RECIPIENTS OF BHARAT RATNA
S. No. Name Awarded in
1. Shri Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (1878-1972) 1954
2. Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888-1975) 1954
3. Dr Chandrasekhar Venkat Raman (1888-1970) 1954
4. Dr Bhagwan Das (1869-1958) 1955
5. Dr Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya (1861-1962) 1955
6. Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964) 1955
7. Pt. Govind Ballabh Pant (1887-1961) 1957
8. Dr Dhondo Keshave Karve (1858-1962) 1958
9. Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy (1882-1962) 1961
10. Shri Purushottam Das Tandon (1882-1962) 1961
11. Dr Rajendra Prasad (1884-1963) 1962
12. Dr Zakir Hussain (1897-1969) 1963
13. Dr Pandurang Vaman Kane (1880-1972) 1963
14. Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri (Posthumous) (1904-1966) 1966
15. Smt. Indira Gandhi (1917-1984) 1971
16. Shri Varahagiri Venkata Giri (1894-1980) 1975
17. Shri Kumaraswami Kamraj (Posthumous) (1903-1975) 1976
18. Mother Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu (Mother Teresa) (1910-1997) 1980
19. Shri Acharya Vinobha Bhave (Posthumous) (1895-1982) 1983
20. Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1890-1988) 1987
21. Shri Marudur Gopalan Ramachandran (Posthumous) (1917-1987) 1988
22. Dr Bhim Rao Ramji Ambedkar (Posthumous) (1891-1956) 1990
23. Dr Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (b-1918) 1990
24. Rajiv Gandhi (Posthumous) (1944-1991) 1991
25. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (Posthumous) (1875-1950) 1991
26. Shri Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (1896-1995) 1991
27. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (Posthumous) (1888-1958) 1992
28. Shri Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhai Tata (1904-1993) 1992
29. Shri Satyajit Ray (Posthumous) (1922-1992) 1992
30. Shri Gulzari Lal Nanda (Posthumous) (1898-1997) 1997
31. Smt. Aruna Asaf Ali (Posthumous) (1909-1996) 1997
32. Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (b-1931) 1997
33. Smt. Madurai Sanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi (1916-2005) 1998
34. Shri Chidambaram Subramaniam (1910-2000) 1998
35. Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan (Posthumous) (1902-1979) 1999
36. Professor Amartya Sen (b-1933) 1999
37. Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi (Posthumous) 1999
38. Pandit Ravi Shankar (b-1920) 1999
39. Sushri Lata Dinanath Mangeshkar (b-1929) 2001
40. Ustad Bismillah Khan (1916-2006) 2001
41. Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi (1922-201) 2009
42 Sachin Tendulkar (1973-) 2013
43 CNR Rao (1943-) 2013
Bharat Ratna awardees by age
The Times of India [1] arranged all Bharat Ratna awardees till 2013 by the age at which they were awarded the nation's highest honour.
The awardees: an analysis
1954-2008
Don’t devalue awards
Anil Dharker
26/01/2008
does not include the 2008 list
From the time that the Bharat Ratna was instituted in 1954 till 2008, it had been given to 40 people, the first recipient being the scientist C V Raman. The awards have been given to five people representing the arts (Satyajit Ray, M S Subbulakshmi, Ravi Shankar, Bismillah Khan and Lata Mangeshkar), two representing literature and education (Bhagwan Das and Amartya Sen) and two men of science (Raman and Abdul Kalam).
In the list are five people listed for social service (D K Karve, Pandurang Kane, Mother Teresa, Vinoba Bhave and Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan) and one for civil service (M Visvesaraya). Trade and industry is listed as a category, but you are unlikely to guess how many Bharat Ratnas have been given to our captains of industry. Just one — J R D Tata, as late as 1992. This adds up to a grand total of 16 awards given in 53 years to distinguished Indians in the arts, science and engineering, literature and education, social and civil service.
Perhaps it shouldn’t surprise us — but somehow it still does — that, in contrast, as many as 24 Bharat Ratnas have been awarded for what is euphemistically called public affairs, but really means politics. There are four presidents in the list (Rajendra Prasad, S Radhakrishnan, Zakir Hussain and V V Giri) plus C Rajagopalachari, who as governor general, preceded them. There are five prime ministers (Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Morarji Desai and Rajiv Gandhi). The remaining 14 include one foreigner (Nelson Mandela) and sundry politicians ranging from Vallabhbhai Patel, Maulana Azad and Jaiprakash Narain to Gulzari Lal Nanda, C Subramaniam and K Kamaraj.
In other words, it’s a case of politicians, once again, rewarding themselves. And doing so, without any feeling of impropriety, quite disproportionately. The timing of many of these awards have, more often than not, served narrow political purposes, such as honouring M G Ramachandran just before crucial Tamil Nadu elections, or V P Singh’s anointing of B R Amdbedkar around the time Singh was championing Dalits with the implementation of the Mandal commission’s recommendations on reservations.
See also
Padma awards <> Bharat Ratna Padma awards: 2011<> Padma awards: 2012<> Padma awards: 2014
