Ashoka Chakra (military decoration)

Ashoka Chakra
Ashoka Chakra
	; ; Ashoka Chakra and its ribbon
Type	Medal
Awarded for	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.
Description	India's highest peacetime military decoration
Country	India
Presented by	Republic of India
Eligibility	Officers, men and women of all ranks of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, of the Territorial Army, Militia and of any other lawfully constituted forces.; Members of the Nursing Services of the Armed Forces.; Civilian Citizens of either sex in all walks of life and members of Police Forces including Central Para-Military Forces and Railway protection Force.;
Post-nominals	AC
Status	Active
Established	1952; 72 years ago
First awarded	1952
Last awarded	2021
Total	98 (As of 2023)
Total awarded posthumously	68
Total recipients	98
Precedence
Next (higher)	Bharat Ratna
Equivalent	Param Vir Chakra
Next (lower)	Padma Vibhushan

The Ashoka Chakra (alternative spelling: Ashok Chakra, lit. 'Wheel of Ashoka') is India's highest peacetime military decoration awarded for valor, courageous action, or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield. It is the peacetime equivalent of the Param Vir Chakra (PVC) and is awarded for the "most conspicuous bravery or some daring or pre-eminent valour or self-sacrifice" other than in the face of the enemy. The decoration may be awarded either to military or civilian personnel.

Havildar Bachittar Singh and Naik Narbahadur Thapa were the first recipients of the Ashoka Chakra. Subsequent awards of the Ashoka Chakra are recognized by a bar to the medal ribbon. A recipient can be awarded the Kirti Chakra or Shaurya Chakra in addition to separate acts of gallantry.

History

The medal was originally established on 4 January 1952 as the "Ashoka Chakra, Class I" as the first step of a three-class sequence of non-combatant bravery decorations. In 1967, these decorations were removed from the "class-based" system and renamed as the Ashoka Chakra, Kirti Chakra, and Shaurya Chakra. This is an important point in understanding the independent Indian view of decorations. It would also lead to changes in the Padma Vibhushan series, the distinguished service medal series, the life-saving medal series, and the Defence Security Corps medal series.

From 1 February 1999, the central government instituted a monthly stipend for Ashoka Chakra recipients of Rs. 1400. Jammu and Kashmir awarded a cash award of Rs. 1500 for recipients of this award.

Overview

Obverse: Circular gold gilt, 1-3/8 inches in diameter. In the center, the chakra (wheel) of Ashoka, is surrounded by a lotus wreath with an ornate edge. Suspended by a straight bar suspender. The medal is named on the edge.

Reverse: Blank in the center, with "Ashoka Chakra" in Hindi along the upper edge on the medal and the same name in English along the lower rim. On either side is a lotus design. The center is blank, perhaps with the intent that details of the award be engraved there. There is no indication of the class on the pre-1967 awards, and, in fact, there is no difference between these medals & the post-1967 awards.

Ribbon: 32 mm, dark green with a 2 mm central saffron stripe.

Ashoka Chakra recipients

As of August 2021^[update], the medal has been awarded to 86 awardees, of which 68 were to posthumous recipients. The rank refers to the rank held by the recipient at the time of award. Action refers to the conflict or event during which the Ashoka Chakra was awarded.

Key
*	Indicates posthumous honour

List of award recipients, showing the year
Year	Rank	Recipient	Branch	Action	Refs.
2021	Assistant Sub-Inspector	Babu Ram *	Jammu and Kashmir Police	Kashmir insurgency	^[9]
2019	Lance Naik	Nazir Ahmad Wani *	Territorial Army (Indian Army)		^[10]
2018	Corporal	Jyoti Prakash Nirala *	Indian Air Force		^[3]
2017	Havildar	Hangpan Dada *	Indian Army		^[11]
2016	Lance Naik	Mohan Nath Goswami *			^[11]
2014	Major	Mukund Varadarajan *			^[11]
	Naik	Neeraj Kumar Singh *			^[11]
	Sub-Inspector	K. Prasad Babu *	Andhra Pradesh Police	Naxalite–Maoist insurgency	^[12]
2012	Lieutenant	Navdeep Singh *	Indian Army	Kashmir insurgency	^[11]
2011	Major	Laishram Jyotin Singh *		February 2010 Kabul attack	^[11]
2010	Havildar	Rajesh Kumar *		Kashmir insurgency	^[11]
	Major	D. Sreeram Kumar		Manipur insurgency	^[11]
	Major	Mohit Sharma *		Kashmir insurgency	^[11]
2009	Havildar	Bahadur Singh Bohra *		Kashmir insurgency	^[13]
	Joint Commissioner of Police	Hemant Karkare *	Maharashtra Police	2008 Mumbai attacks	^[13]
	Inspector	Vijay Salaskar *			^[13]
	Additional Commissioner of Police	Ashok Kamte *			^[13]
	Assistant Sub-Inspector	Tukaram Omble *			^[13]
	Havildar	Gajender Singh Bisht *	National Security Guard		^[13]
	Major	Sandeep Unnikrishnan *	National Security Guard		^[13]
	Inspector	Mohan Chand Sharma *	Delhi Police	Batla House encounter	^[13]
	Colonel	Jojan Thomas *	Indian Army	Kashmir insurgency	^[13]
	Deputy Superintendent of Police	R. P. Diengdoh *	Meghalaya Police	Meghalaya Insurgency	^[13]
	Assistant Commandant of Police	Pramod Kumar Satapathy *	Odisha Police	Naxalite–Maoist insurgency	^[13]
2008	Major	Dinesh Raghu Raman *	Indian Army	Kashmir insurgency	^[14]
2007	Captain	Harshan Radhakrishnan Nair *			^[14]
	Naib Subedar	Chuni Lal *			^[14]
	Colonel	Vasanth Venugopal *			^[14]
2004	Lieutenant	Triveni Singh *			^[14]
2004	Paratrooper	Sanjog Chhetri *			^[14]
2003	Subedar Major	Suresh Chand Yadav *	National Security Guard	Akshardham Temple attack	^[15]
2002	Subedar	Surinder Singh *	Indian Army	Kashmir insurgency	^[14]
2002	Naik	Rambeer Singh Tomar *	Indian Army	Kashmir insurgency	^[14]
2001	Shri	Jagdish Prasad Yadav *	Rajya Sabha Secretariat	2001 Indian Parliament attack
	Shri	Matbar Singh Negi *	Rajya Sabha Secretariat
	Constable	Kamlesh Kumari Yadav *	Central Reserve Police Force		^[14]
2000	Major	Sudhir Kumar Walia *	Indian Army	Kashmir insurgency	^[14]
1997	Second Lieutenant	Puneet Nath Datt *			^[14]
1997	Lieutenant Colonel	Shanti Swarup Rana *			^[14]
1996	Captain	Arun Singh Jasrotia *			^[14]
1995	Major	Rajiv Kumar Joon *			^[14]
	Subedar	Sujjan Singh Yadav *			^[14]
	Lieutenant Colonel	Harsh Uday Singh Gaur *			^[14]
1994	Colonel	Neelakantan Jayachandran Nair *			^[14]
1993	Second Lieutenant	Rakesh Singh Malhan *			^[14]
1992	Captain	Sandeep Sankhla *			^[16]
1991	Superintendent of Police	Randhir Prasad Verma *	Bihar Police	Bank robbery	^[16]
1987	Flight Attendant	Neerja Bhanot *	Pan Am	Pan Am Flight 73 hijacking	^[16]
1986	Shri	Vijay Jagirdar *	Civilian	1984 anti-Sikh riots
1985	Lance Havildar	Chhering Mutup	Indian Army	Siachen conflict	^[16]
	Naik	Nirbhay Singh Sisodiya *		Operation Blue Star	^[16]
	Naik	Bhawani Datt Joshi *			^[16]
	Lieutenant	Ram Prakash Roperia *			^[16]
	Captain	Jasbir Singh Raina			^[16]
	Major	Bhukant Mishra *			^[16]
	Wing Commander	Rakesh Sharma	Indian Air Force	Soyuz T-11	^[16]
1984	Flight Engineer	Gennadi Strekalov	Roscosmos		^[16]
1984	Colonel	Yury Malyshev	Soviet Air Forces		^[16]
1981	Second Lieutenant	Cyrus Addie Pithawalla	Indian Army	Manipur insurgency	^[16]
1974	Shri	Munni Lal *	Civilian	Dacoit attack
1974	Naib Subedar	Gurnam Singh *	Indian Army		^[16]
1972	Shri	Bhure Lal	Madhya Pradesh Police	Dacoit attack
1972	Captain	Ummed Singh Mahra *	Indian Army	Nagaland insurgency	^[16]
1971	Shri	Baij Nath Singh *	Civilian	Dacoit attack
1969	Captain	Jas Ram Singh	Indian Army	Mizo insurgency	^[16]
1968	Shri	Takhat Singh *	Civilian	Dacoit attacks	^[17]
		Lakhan Singh
		Hukum Singh
		Govind Singh
		Dhanpat Singh
1967	Head Constable (Retired)	Shankar Lal Shrivastava *	Madhya Pradesh Police
1965	Shri	Tej Singh *	Civilian
		Lajja Ram *
		Chaman Lal *
		Purshottam *			^[16]
1962	Subedar Major	Sal Bahadur Limbu *	Indian Army	Nagaland insurgency	^[16]
1962	Captain	Man Bahadur Rai			^[16]
1958	Captain	Eric James Tucker *			^[16]
1957	Lieutenant Colonel	Jagannath Raoji Chitnis *			^[16]
	Second Lieutenant	Pollur Mutthuswamy Raman *			^[16]
	Havildar	Joginder Singh *			^[16]
1956	Lance Naik	Sundar Singh			^[16]
1955	Pilot	Damodar Kashinath Jatar *	Air India
1953	Flight Lieutenant	Suhas Biswas	Indian Air Force		^[16]
1952	Naik	Narbahadur Thapa	Indian Army	Operation Polo	^[16]
1952	Havildar	Bachittar Singh *	Indian Army	Operation Polo	^[16]

Ashoka Chakra recipients by year and service

Award recipients by year
Year	Number of recipients
1952–1959	09
1960–1969	13
1970–1979	05
1980–1989	12
1990–1999	10
2000–2009	24
2010–2019	12
2020–2029	01

Award recipients by service
Field	Number of recipients
Indian Army	52
Indian Air Force	03
Indian Navy	00
Indian Civilians	17
Indian State Police	11
Foreigners	02
CAPF	01

Superlatives

Subedar kartar singh son of Bhagwan singh(10-24406)3- Punjab R (Ashoka Chakra winner in 13 Sep 1948( VPO Taragarh Distt. Amritsar)
Havildar Bachittar Singh and Naik Nar Bahadur Thapa, were the first recipients of the Ashoka Chakra.
Flight Lieutenant Suhas Biswas was the first recipient of the Ashoka Chakra from Indian Air Force.
Paratrooper Sanjog Chhetri (aged 20 when posthumously awarded) was the youngest recipient of the Ashoka Chakra.
Colonel Neelakantan Jayachandran Nair was awarded both Ashoka Chakra and Kirti Chakra.
Damodar Kashinath Jatar, a pilot was the first civilian recipient of the Ashoka Chakra.
Colonel Yury Malyshev and Flight Engineer Gennadi Strekalov from Russia were the first foreign recipients of the Ashoka Chakra (both were astronauts).
Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma is the first Indian astronaut to be awarded the Ashoka Chakra.
Neerja Bhanot, a flight attendant of PAN AM was the first female recipient of the Ashoka Chakra.
Kamlesh Kumari Yadav, a constable of CRPF was the first recipient of the Ashoka Chakra from Central Armed Police Forces.
Bhure Lal, a constable from Madhya Pradesh Police was the first state policeman to be awarded the Ashoka Chakra (Shankar Lal Shrivastava, a retired head constable from Madhya Pradesh Police was posthumously awarded the Ashoka Chakra in 1967).
Lt. Col. Harsh Uday Singh Gaur, 10 Bihar Regiment. On November 29, 1994.^[18] Ashoka Chakra

References

^ Though the Ashoka Chakra is placed below the PVC in order of wear, it is considered as a peacetime equivalent to Param Vir Chakra).^[4]

Chakravorty, B.C. (1995). Stories of Heroism: PVC & MVC Winners. New Delhi: Allied Publishers. ISBN 978-81-7023-516-3.

^ ^a ^b "Official Website of Indian Army". Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
^ "Awardees - Gallantry Awards". gallantryawards.gov.in.
^ ^a ^b "Martyred Corporal Jyoti Prakash Nirala joins elite IAF club tomorrow | India News - Times of India". The Times of India. 25 January 2018.
^ "Awards Warb" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs (India). p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
^ Chakravorty 1995, p. 40.
^ "Precedence of Medals". Indian Army. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
^ "Precedence of Medals". indianarmy.nic.in/. Indian Army. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
^ "Precedence of Medals". Indian Army, Govt of India official website.
^ "As Jammu and Kashmir Police bags gallantry medals, DGP heaps praises". Hindustan Times. 14 August 2021.
^ "411 Republic Day Gallantry and Other Defence Decorations Announced". pib.nic.in. Press Information Bureau, Government of India.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ "Ashoka Chakra recipients (2009–16)". Indian Army Web Portal. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
^ "The President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee giving away the highest gallantry award Ashok Chakra to Shri K. Venkatraman father of the Reserve Inspector, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh, Shri K.L.V.S.S.H.N.V. Prasad Babu, (Posthumous), during the 65th Republic Day Parade 2014, in New Delhi on January 26, 2014". Press Information Bureau, India. 26 January 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k "Ashoka Chakra awardees and their saga of gallantry" (Press release). Press Information Bureau, India. 25 January 2009. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r "Ashoka Chakra recipients (1993–2009)". Indian Army Web Portal. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
^ "Suresh Chand Yadav". National Security Guards. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa "Ashoka Chakra recipients (1952–92)". Indian Army Web Portal. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
^ Aggarwal, Rashmi (2021). "Sri Takhat Singh". Ashoka Chakra Recipients. p. 63.
^ "Saluting Lt Col Harsh Uday Singh Gaur, Ashok Chakra (Posthumous)". My Nation. 30 November 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2023.

External links

Ashoka Chakra at Indian Army website
Bharat Rakshak Page on Ashoka Chakra
Ashoka Chakra awardees of the Indian Air Force Archived 20 December 2019 at the Wayback Machine
Recipients of Ashoka Chakra Award

[5] Though the Ashoka Chakra is placed below the PVC in order of wear, it is considered as a peacetime equivalent to Param Vir Chakra).^[4]

[army-1] "Official Website of Indian Army". Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2014.

[gallantryawards.gov.in-2] "Awardees - Gallantry Awards". gallantryawards.gov.in.

[timesofindia.indiatimes.com-3] "Martyred Corporal Jyoti Prakash Nirala joins elite IAF club tomorrow | India News - Times of India". The Times of India. 25 January 2018.

[Awards_Warb-4] "Awards Warb" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs (India). p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.

[FOOTNOTEChakravorty199540-6] Chakravorty 1995, p. 40.

[Precedence_of_Medals-7] "Precedence of Medals". Indian Army. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2014.

[precedence-8] "Precedence of Medals". indianarmy.nic.in/. Indian Army. Retrieved 9 September 2014.

[9] "Precedence of Medals". Indian Army, Govt of India official website.

[10] "As Jammu and Kashmir Police bags gallantry medals, DGP heaps praises". Hindustan Times. 14 August 2021.

[11] "411 Republic Day Gallantry and Other Defence Decorations Announced". pib.nic.in. Press Information Bureau, Government of India.

[AC2009-2016-12] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ "Ashoka Chakra recipients (2009–16)". Indian Army Web Portal. Retrieved 18 January 2017.

[13] "The President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee giving away the highest gallantry award Ashok Chakra to Shri K. Venkatraman father of the Reserve Inspector, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh, Shri K.L.V.S.S.H.N.V. Prasad Babu, (Posthumous), during the 65th Republic Day Parade 2014, in New Delhi on January 26, 2014". Press Information Bureau, India. 26 January 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2017.

[AC2009-14] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k "Ashoka Chakra awardees and their saga of gallantry" (Press release). Press Information Bureau, India. 25 January 2009. Retrieved 18 January 2017.

[AC1993-2009-15] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r "Ashoka Chakra recipients (1993–2009)". Indian Army Web Portal. Retrieved 18 January 2017.

[16] "Suresh Chand Yadav". National Security Guards. Retrieved 21 June 2020.

[AC1952-92-17] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa "Ashoka Chakra recipients (1952–92)". Indian Army Web Portal. Retrieved 18 January 2017.

[18] Aggarwal, Rashmi (2021). "Sri Takhat Singh". Ashoka Chakra Recipients. p. 63.

[19] "Saluting Lt Col Harsh Uday Singh Gaur, Ashok Chakra (Posthumous)". My Nation. 30 November 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2023.

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