Karpoori Thakur, Former Bihar Chief Minister Awarded Bharat Ratna Posthumously
Karpoori Thakur, a well-known Gandhian socialist leader and ex-chief minister of Bihar, will be posthumously honoured with the ‘Bharat Ratna’. Karpoori Thakur, whose term of office spanned from December 1970 to June 1971 and again from December 1977 to April 1979, passed away on February 17, 1988. The information comes from our in-house source at Reader Wall.
An Overview of the Bharat Ratna
The Bharat Ratna, instituted in 1954, is the country’s most prestigious civilian award. Since its inception, 49 individuals have been bestowed with the honourable award, out of which 17 were awarded posthumously. The award is open to any individual irrespective of their race, profession, status, or gender.
The award serves to acknowledge exceptional service or exemplary performance in any sphere of human activity. Recommendations for the prestigious award are made by the Prime Minister directly to the President, thus eliminating the necessity for any formal recommendations. Each year, this award is limited to no more than three recipients.
The awards ceremony involves presenting the receiver with a Sanad (certificate) signed by the President and a medallion. As per the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), no monetary grant accompanies the Bharat Ratna.
Past Recipients of the Bharat Ratna
Listed below, in chronological order, are the past recipients of the Bharat Ratna along with their notable roles:
- Zakir Husain (Independence activist)- 1963
- Pandurang Vaman Kane (Indologist and Sanskrit scholar) -1963
- Lal Bahadur Shastri (Posthumous) (Independence activist and former Prime Minister of India) – 1966
- Indira Gandhi (politician and former Prime Minister of India) -1971
- Varahagiri Venkata Giri (Independence activist and former President of India) -1975
- Kumaraswamy Kamraj (Posthumous) (politician and former Tamil Nadu chief minister) 1976
- Mother Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu (Mother Teresa) (founder of the Missionaries of Charity) – 1980
- Vinoba Bhave (Posthumous) (Independence activist, social reformer) -1983
- Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (Independence activist) -1987
- Marudur Gopalan Ramachandran (Posthumous) (actor turned politician) -1988
- Bhim Rao Ramji Ambedkar (Posthumous) (Social reformer) -1990
- Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (anti-apartheid activist) – 1990
- Rajiv Gandhi (Posthumous) (politician and former Prime Minister of India) -1991
- Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (Posthumous) (Independence activist) – 1991
- Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (Independence activist and Prime Minister of India) – 1991
- Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (Posthumous) (Independence activist) -1992
- Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhai Tata (Industrialist) – 1992
- Satyajit Ray (Filmmaker) – 1992
- Gulzari Lal Nanda (Independence activist) – 1997
- Aruna Asaf Ali (Posthumous) (Independence activist) – 1997
- A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (Aerospace, defence scientist and former President of India) -1997
- Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi (Carnatic classical vocalist) -1998
- Chidambaram Subramaniam (Independence activist) – 1998
- Jayaprakash Narayan (Posthumous) (Independence activist, social reformer) – 1999
- Amartya Sen (economist) – 1999
- Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi (Posthumous) (Independence activist) – 1999
- Ravi Shankar (sitar player) – 1999
- Lata Dinanath Mangeshkar (playback singer) – 2001
- Ustad Bismillah Khan (Hindustani classical shehnai player) – 2001
- Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi (Hindustani classical vocalist) – 2009
- C. N. R. Rao (chemist and professor) – 2014
- Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (cricketer) – 2014
- Atal Bihari Vajpayee (politician and former Prime Minister of India) 2015
- Madan Mohan Malaviya (Posthumous) (Scholar and educational reformer) – 2015
- Nanaji Deshmukh (Posthumous) (social activist) – 2019
- Bhupendra Kumar Hazarika (Posthumous) (playback singer, lyricist, musician, poet, and film-maker) – 2019
- Pranab Mukherjee (politician and former President of India) 2019
- Karpoori Thakur (Posthumous) (politician and former Bihar chief minister) – 2024
This historical announcement continues the legacy of honouring India’s most influential and dynamic individuals who have significantly contributed to the country’s progress in various fields.
