Indian civilian awards are given by the Indian government to Indian citizens in recognition of their distinguished contributions to the country. They include the Padma Shri, the…
Padma Bhushan, the Padma Vibhushan and the Bharat Ratna. The Padma Shri is given to people for their contributions in various fields like arts, literature, education, industry, science, sports, social service and public life. The Padma Bhushan is awarded to those who have rendered distinguished service of a high order to the nation in any field.
The Padma Vibhushan is India’s second highest civilian honor. It is awarded to recognize exceptional service to the nation in any field, including government service. The Bharat Ratna is India’s highest civilian award for the highest degrees of service to the nation in artistic, literary or scientific fields. Mother Theresa and Nelson Mandela are among those who have been conferred the Bharat Ratna. Since 2001, no one has been awarded the Bharat Ratna.
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India’s civilian awards are modeled on the system in the UK. Under Morarji Desai, the Janata government had suspended these awards for three years during the late 70s. Some people see the awards as a relic of a colonial past when loyal subjects were rewarded by the colonial authorities.
Some others have even refused to receive or returned such awards. The common argument is that they smack of arbitrariness and state patronage and only serve to make people vain. More than 50% of the Bharat Ratna awardees have been from the political class.
With many political parties clamoring that their leaders should be given the Bharat Ratna, there is a risk that the award will become a political sop. These will lower the very dignity of the award. Civilian awards should be given only to the most deserving people who have made a difference to other people’s lives through their activities.
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The reality is that such people who do their work silently and without publicity are often ignored in favor of people who may not have done anything for society but merely happen to be in the limelight.