List of Gallantry Awards in India

 Gallantry Awards are given to honor courage, valour and dignity. In India, the Gallantry Awards are given to the personnel of the forces for their exceptional bravery. 

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:

Param Vir Chakra

Ashoka Chakra

Mahavir Chakra

Kirti Chakra

Vir Chakra

Shaurya Chakra

Selection Process for Gallantry Awards

The selection process for giving out Gallantry Awards is as follows:

The Ministry of Defence invites recommendations twice in a year from the Armed Forces and Union Ministry of Home Affairs for Gallantry Awards.These recommendations are invited usually  in the month of August for the awards to be announced on the occasion of the Republic Day.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:

In respect of the Armed Forces, a case for the Gallantry Award is initiated by the Unit.If the recommendations are found fit then it is forwarded to respective Services HQrs duly recommended by Commanders in the chain immediately after the act of gallantry is performed.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.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 AwardsParam Vir Chakra, Maha Vir Chakra & Vir ChakraParam 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 ChakraAshoka Chakra is awarded for most conspicuous bravery or some act of daring or pre-eminent act of valour 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 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

 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

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.

Ribbon: The ribbon is half blue and half orange in color.

Some important Recipients

Subedar Nadikerianda Bheemaiah – 1947 for Kashmir WarVice 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 WarCapt. 

Baleyada Muthanna Cariappa – 2000 for Operation Vijay, Kargil War

 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

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.

Some important Recipients

ORD S/M Bachan Singh – 1962

PO TAS I Gur Iqbal Singh (P) – 1974

IPS Ajit Doval – 1988SP 

Vinod Kumar Choubey – 2009

Major Mahesh Kumar – 2013

 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