BHARAT RATNA

‘Bharat Ratna’, the highest civilian award of India, was instituted in the year 1954.
Any person without distinction of race, occupation, position or sex is eligible for these awards.
It is awarded for exceptional service towards advancement of Art, Literature and Science, and in recognition of public service of the highest order.
The recommendations for Bharat Ratna are made by the Prime Minister himself to the President. No formal recommendations for this are necessary.
The number of annual awards is restricted to a maximum of three in a particular year.
On conferment of the award, the recipient receives a Sanad (certificate) signed by the President and a medallion.
The award does not carry any monetary grant.
In terms of Article 18 (1) of the Constitution, the award cannot be used as a prefix or suffix to the recipient’s name. However, should an award winner consider it necessary, he/she may use the following expression in their bio-data/letterhead/visiting card etc. to indicate that he/she is a recipient of the award: –
‘Awarded Bharat Ratna by the President’
or
‘Recipient of Bharat Ratna award’

List of Bharat Ratna Awardees

1. Pandit Bhimsen Joshi (2008)
2. Kumari Lata Dinanath Mangeshkar (2001)
3. Ustad Bismillah Khan (2001)
4. Prof. Amartya Sen (1999)
5. Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi (1999)
6. Loknayak Jayprakash Narayan (1999)
7. Pandit Ravi Shankar (1999)
8. Shri Chidambaram Subramaniam (1998)
9. Smt. Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi (1998)
10. Shri (Dr.) Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (1997)
11. Smt. Aruna Asaf Ali (1997)
12. Shri Gulzari Lal Nanda (1997)
13. Shri Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhai Tata (1992)
14. Shri Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (1992)
15. Shri Satyajit Ray (1992)
16. Shri Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (1991)
17. Shri Rajiv Gandhi (1991)
18. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (1991)
19. Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedakr (1990)
20. Dr. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (1990)
21. Shri Marudur Gopalan Ramachandran (1988)
22. Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1987)
23. Shri Acharya Vinoba Bhave (1983)
24. Mother Teresa (Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu) (1980)
25. Shri Kumaraswamy Kamraj (1976)
26. Shri Varahagiri Venkata Giri (1975)
27. Smt. Indira Gandhi (1971)
28. Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri (1966)
29. Dr. Pandurang Vaman Kane (1963)
30. Dr. Zakir Hussain (1963)
31. Dr. Rajendra Prasad (1962)
32. Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy (1961)
33. Shri Purushottam Das Tandon (1961)
34. Dr. Dhonde Keshav Karve (1958)
35. Pt. Govind Ballabh Pant (1957)
36. Dr. Bhagwan Das (1955)
37. Shri Jawaharlal Nehru (1955)
38. Dr. Mokshagundam Vivesvaraya (1955)
39. Shri Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (1954)
40. Dr. Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (1954)
41. Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan (1954)