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Bharat Ratna Award Winner 2024 | List of Bharat Ratna Award Winners 1954 to 2024
The Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award, has been a beacon of recognition for individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the nation in various fields. Instituted in 1954, the award has been bestowed upon luminaries from diverse domains, including politics, science, arts, literature, and social service. As we reflect on the years gone by, let’s take a journey through the list of Bharat Ratna awardees from 1954 to 2024, celebrating the exemplary service and achievements that have shaped the nation.
The Bharat Ratna Award stands as a testament to the exceptional individuals who have played pivotal roles in shaping India’s destiny. From political leaders to cultural icons, scientists to social reformers, the awardees represent the myriad talents that have contributed to the country’s growth and development. As we celebrate the journey from 1954 to 2024, it is not just a list of names but a chronicle of the nation’s progress and the remarkable individuals who have left an indelible mark on its history. The Bharat Ratna continues to be a beacon of inspiration, recognizing those who have dedicated their lives to the betterment of India and its people.
Bharat Ratna Award Winner 2024:
The recipient of the Bharat Ratna for 2024 are Karpoori Thakur and Lal Krishna Advani.
About Karpoori Thakur :
Karpoori Thakur, was an Indian politician who played a significant role in Bihar’s political landscape. Born on January 24, 1924, in Pitaunjhia village in Bihar, he belonged to a family of modest means. Despite facing economic hardships, Thakur pursued his education and eventually became an influential leader known for his advocacy of social justice and welfare policies.
Key Highlights about Karpoori Thakur:
- Political Career: Karpoori Thakur’s political journey began with his involvement in the Indian National Congress (INC). He served as the Chief Minister of Bihar for two non-consecutive terms. His first term was from December 1970 to June 1971, and his second term was from December 1977 to February 1979.
- Social Justice Advocate: Thakur was a strong advocate for social justice and worked towards the upliftment of the marginalized sections of society. He implemented several policies aimed at promoting the welfare of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in Bihar.
- Reservation Policies: One of Karpoori Thakur’s most notable contributions was the introduction of the reservation system in government jobs for the economically backward classes. He implemented the policy of 10% reservation for the economically weaker sections (EWS) in the state.
- Simplicity and Integrity: Thakur was known for his simple lifestyle and personal integrity. He was often referred to as the “Jan Nayak” (People’s Leader) due to his commitment to the welfare of the common man.
- Janata Dal and Emergency Period: Karpoori Thakur was associated with the Janata Dal, a political party formed in 1988 through the merger of various anti-Congress parties. During the Emergency (1975-1977), he was jailed for his opposition to the authoritarian policies of the government.
- Legacy: Karpoori Thakur’s legacy is remembered for his emphasis on social justice, pro-poor policies, and efforts to address the concerns of the marginalized sections of society. The reservation policies he initiated had a lasting impact on the socio-political landscape of Bihar and influenced similar policies at the national level.
Karpoori Thakur passed away on February 17, 1988, but his contributions to Bihar’s politics and his advocacy for social justice continue to be remembered. His life and work reflect a commitment to the principles of equity and inclusivity in the political and social fabric of India.
About Lal Krishna Advani :
Lal Krishna Advani is a prominent Indian politician who played a significant role in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a major political party in India. Born on November 8, 1927, in Karachi (now in Pakistan), Advani has had a long and influential political career.
Advani is often regarded as one of the key architects of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s rise to prominence. He has served in various leadership roles within the party and has been a prominent figure in Indian politics since the 1950s.
Some key points about Lal Krishna Advani:
- Founding Member of BJP: He played a crucial role in the formation of the BJP in 1980. The party emerged as a major force in Indian politics, with a focus on Hindutva, a cultural and nationalist ideology.
- Rath Yatra: Advani gained national attention in the late 1980s when he led the “Rath Yatra” (chariot journey) in 1990, a political rally that aimed to promote the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya. The movement contributed to the mobilization of support for the BJP and the broader Hindutva agenda.
- Deputy Prime Minister: He served as the Deputy Prime Minister of India from 2002 to 2004 in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government.
- Home Minister: Advani held the position of Home Minister of India from 1998 to 2004, during which time he focused on issues related to national security.
- Presidential Candidate: In 2017, Advani was nominated as the BJP’s candidate for the presidential election, but he withdrew from the race.
- Padma Vibhushan: In 2015, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, one of the highest civilian honors in India, in recognition of his contributions to public affairs.
List of Bharat Ratna Award Winners 1954 to 2024 :
| Recipients (State/UT) | Year   | Key Notes |
| C. Rajagopalachari/ Rajaji (Tamil Nadu) |
1954 | C. Rajagopalachari/ Rajaji was the last Governor General of India. He was the founder of the Swatantra Party. He was the conscience keeper of MK Gandhi. |
| Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan (Tamil Nadu) |
1954 | Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan was the first Vice President of India. He became the country’s second President. |
| C. V. Raman (Tamil Nadu) |
1954 | C. V. Raman became the first Asian scientist to receive a Nobel Prize in any branch of science. He is famous for his discoveries in physics like Raman Scattering. |
| Bhagwan Das (Uttar Pradesh) |
1955 | Bhagwan Das was the co-founder of Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith. He also contributed to the foundation of Banaras Hindu University. |
| M. Visvesvaraya (Karnataka) |
1955 | M. Visvesvaraya’s birth anniversary on 15th September is celebrated as Engineer’s Day in the country. He was a civil engineer who contributed much to the country’s dam development. |
| Jawaharlal Nehru (Uttar Pradesh) |
1955 | Jawaharlal Nehru became the first and longest tenure Prime Minister (PM) of India. He was PM at the time of receiving this award. |
| Govind Ballabh Pant (Uttarakhand) |
1957 | Govind Ballabh Pant was elected to be the first chief minister of the state of Uttar Pradesh. He was an ardent supporter of making Hindi a national language. |
| Dhondo Keshav Karve (Maharashtra) |
1958 | Dhondo Keshav Karve was a great social reformer and was famous for women’s education, and widow remarriage. He founded the Widow Marriage Association. |
| Bidhan Chandra Roy (West Bengal) |
1961 | Bidhan Chandra Roy is recognized as the Maker of Modern West Bengal. His birth anniversary on 1st July is celebrated as National Doctors’ Day in the country. |
| Purushottam Das Tandon (Uttar Pradesh) |
1961 | Purushottam Das Tandon was titled Rajarshi. He became the speaker in Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly. He supported the Hindi language making it the official language. |
| Rajendra Prasad (Bihar) |
1962 | Rajendra Prasad swore as the first President of India. He was actively involved in the non-cooperation movement with Mahatma Gandhi Ji. |
| Zakir Husain (Andhra Pradesh) |
1963 | Zakir Husain was elected to be the second Vice President and third President of India. He became the Vice Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University. |
| Pandurang Vaman Kane (Maharashtra) |
1963 | Pandurang Vaman Kane was a great Indologist and Sanskrit scholar. He is well known for his works like ‘History of Dharmasastra: Ancient and Medieval Religious and Civil Laws in India’. |
| Lal Bahadur Shastri (Uttar Pradesh) * |
1966 | Lal Bahadur Shastri became the first posthumous recipient of the Bharat Ratna Award. He was elected to be the second PM of India. He is popular in country for his slogan ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’. |
| Indira Gandhi (Uttar Pradesh) |
1971 | Indira Gandhi was the first female recipient of the Bharat Ratna Award. She was PM during the Indo-Pak War of 1971. She was PM of India at the time of receiving this award. |
| V. V. Giri (Odisha) |
1975 | V. V. Giri served as the first acting President of India. He became the 4th President of India. He organized many trade unions for the freedom struggle. |
| K. Kamaraj (Tamil Nadu) * |
1976 | K. Kamaraj was recognized as the King Maker in Indian Political History as he contributed much to making Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi the PM of India. |
| Mother Teresa (West Bengal, born in North Macedonia) |
1980 | Mother Teresa is the first and only naturalized citizen of India who received the Bharat Ratna Award. She was the founder of Catholics Missionaries of Charity. She was also Nobel Laureate for her humanitarian works. |
| Vinoba Bhave (Maharashtra) * |
1983 | Vinoba Bhave was a great follower of Gandhism. He is well known for his Bhoodan Movement in the country. He received Ramon Magsaysay Award for his humanitarian works. |
| Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (Pakistan) |
1987 | Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan became the first non-citizen recipient of the Bharat Ratna Award. He was also known as Frontier Gandhi. He was the founder of the Red Shirt Movement (Khudai Khidmatgar). |
| M. G. Ramachandran (Tamil Nadu) * |
1988 | M. G. Ramachandran was the first actor who became the recipient of the Bharat Ratna Award. He was the first actor who became chief minister of any state. He was the founder of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. |
| B.R. Ambedkar (Maharashtra) |
1990 | B.R. Ambedkar is recognized as the chief architect of the Indian Constitution. He became the first Law Minister of the country. He vehemently criticized the caste system in Hinduism. |
| B.R. Ambedkar (South Africa) |
1990 | B.R. Ambedkar is recognized as the Gandhi of South Africa. He became the second non-citizen recipient of the Bharat Ratna Award. He received Nobel Peace Prize also. |
| Rajiv Gandhi (Uttar Pradesh) |
1991 | Rajiv Gandhi was elected to be the sixth PM of India. He became the youngest PM of India in 1984 at the age of 40 years. During his tenure as PM, landmark laws were passed like the Anti-defection law in 1985.  |
| Vallabhbhai Patel (Gujarat) |
1991 | Vallabhbhai Patel is recognized as the Iron Man of India. He served as the first Deputy Prime Minister of the country. He played an important role in Bardoli Satyagraha, modern-based All India Services. |
| Morarji Desai (Gujarat) | 1991 | Morarji Desai is the sole national of India to be awarded the highest civilian honor of Pakistan the Nishan-e-Pakistan. He was elected to be the first non-congress PM of India. He was the oldest Prime Minister of India. |
| Abul Kalam Azad (West Bengal) |
1992 | Abul Kalam Azad was the first Education Minister of India. He is popularly known as Maulana Azad. His birth anniversary on 11th November is celebrated as National Education Day in the country. |
| J. R. D. Tata (Maharashtra) |
1992 | J. R. D. Tata was an industrialist and aviation pioneer in India. He started the country’s first airline named Air India. He established many institutes like Tate Institute of Fundamental Research, TCS, Tate Motors, etc. |
| Satyajit Ray (West Bengal) |
1992 | Satyajit Ray is credited to bring Indian Cinema to world recognition. His first film as director was Pather Panchali in 1955. He was awarded the country’s highest cinema award named Dadasaheb Phalke Award. |
| Gulzarilal Nanda (Punjab) |
1997 | Gulzarilal Nanda served two times as the interim PM of India and two times as the deputy chairman of the erstwhile Planning Commission. He raised the labor issues on a national platform. |
| Aruna Asaf Ali (West Bengal) |
1997 | Aruna Asaf Ali became the first Mayor of Delhi in the post-independence period. She was actively involved in the Quit India Movement in 1942. |
| A.P.J Abdul Kalam (Tamil Nadu) |
1997 | A.P.J Abdul Kalam is recognized as the Missile Man of India. He contributed to the development of launch vehicle technology, ballistic missiles, etc. He became the country’s 11th President. His major works include Wings of Fire, Ignited Minds, India 2020, etc. |
| M. S. Subbulakshmi (Tamil Nadu) |
1998 | M. S. Subbulakshmi was a classical vocalist in Carnatic music. She is recognized as the Queen of Songs. She became the first musician of India to be awarded the Ramon Magsaysay for her public charity works. |
| Chidambaram Subramaniam (Tamil Nadu) |
1998 | Chidambaram Subramaniam is well known for his contribution to Green Revolution in India. He contributed to the International Rice Research Institute of Manila, Philippines. |
| Jayaprakash Narayan (Bihar) |
1999 | Jayaprakash Narayan is recognized as the Loknayak (People’s Leader). He launched the Total Revolution Movement/ JP Movement against the congress government. |
| Amartya Sen (West Bengal) |
1999 | Amartya Sen is Nobel Laureate in Economic Science. He contributed to welfare economics, social justice in economics, social choice theory, etc. |
| Gopinath Bordoloi (Assam) |
1999 | Gopinath Bordoloi was elected to be the first chief minister of Assam. He is recognized as the Lokapriya in Assam for his dedication to Assam’s development. |
| Ravi Shankar (Uttar Pradesh) |
1999 | Ravi Shankar is recognized as the world’s best exponent of Hindustani Classical Music. He also received the Grammy Award. |
| Lata Mangeshkar (Maharashtra) |
2001 | Lata Mangeshkar is recognized as the Nightingale of India, Voice of Millennium, and Queen of Melody. She was awarded the country’s highest cinema award Dadasaheb Phalke Award. |
| Bismillah Khan (Uttar Pradesh) |
2001 | Bismillah Khan is a celebrated classical shehnai player. He is credited to highlight the shehnai instrument in Indian music. He became the third classical musician who received the Bharat Ratna Award. |
| Bhimsen Joshi (Karnataka) |
2009 | Bhimsen Joshi was a great exponent of Hindustani classical music. He was a disciple of recognized Kirana Gharana. He was well known for his Khyal genre of singing style.   |
| C. N. R. Rao (Karnataka) |
2014 | C. N. R. Rao is an eminent chemist who contributed much to solid-state and structural chemistry. He received many awards like Marlow Medal, Hughes Medal, Royal Medal, India Science Award, etc. |
| Sachin Tendulkar (Maharashtra) |
2014 | Sachin Tendulkar is recognized as the Master Blaster in cricket history. He debuted in the international cricket match at the age of 16 years. He is the only batsman to score more than 30,000 runs in entire forms of international cricket matches. |
| Madan Mohan Malaviya (Uttar Pradesh) |
2015 | Madan Mohan Malaviya was the founder of the Banaras Hindu University and Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha. He is recognized as the Mahamana.  |
| Atal Bihari Bajpayee (Madhya Pradesh) |
2015 | Atal Bihari Bajpayee was elected to be PM of India three times. He was also awarded the best parliamentarian award in 1994. He was also a great poet. |
| Pranab Mukherjee (West Bengal) |
2019 | Pranab Mukherjee was elected to be the 13th President of India and 14th & 15th Leader of the Lok Sabha. In 2020, he died due to COVID-19. |
| Nanaji Deshmukh (Maharashtra) |
2019 | Nanaji Deshmukh’s real name was Chandikadas Amritrao Deshmukh. He contributed to education, rural self-reliance, and health. He served as the leader of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh. |
| Bhupen Hazarika (Assam) |
2019 | Bhupen Hazarika is recognized as the Sudhakantha (Nectar-throated). He was an eminent filmmaker, poet, lyricist, playback singer, and musician. |
| Karpoori Thakur(Bihar) | 2024 | A renowned socialist leader and former Chief Minister of Bihar |
| Lal Krishna Advani | 2024 | A Veteran Bhartiya Janta Party Leader |
| Charan Singh | 2024 | Charan Singh, the 5th Prime Minister of India (1979-1980), was a champion of farmers’ rights. As a prominent political figure, he focused on agrarian reforms and implemented policies to address the concerns of the agricultural community. |
| M. S. Swaminathan | 2024 | M. S. Swaminathan is renowned as the “Father of the Green Revolution in India.” Serving as the Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, he played a pivotal role in revolutionizing Indian agriculture. |
| P. V. Narasimha Rao | 2024 | P. V. Narasimha Rao, the 9th Prime Minister of India (1991-1996), initiated significant economic reforms, liberalizing the Indian economy. His tenure saw the dismantling of the License Raj and the introduction of the New Economic Policy, fostering economic growth. |
FAQs: Bharat Ratna Award 2024 Winner
- What is the Bharat Ratna Award?
- The Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian award in India, conferred in recognition of exceptional service or performance of the highest order in various fields of human endeavor.
- When was the Bharat Ratna Award instituted?
- The Bharat Ratna was instituted on January 2, 1954, making it one of the oldest and most prestigious civilian awards in the country.
- Who is eligible to receive the Bharat Ratna?
- The award can be given to any citizen of India without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex. Non-citizens can also be eligible, but posthumously.
- In which fields is the Bharat Ratna Award conferred?
- The Bharat Ratna can be awarded in various fields, including art, literature, science, public services, and sports. The criterion is outstanding achievements in the respective field.
- How is the Bharat Ratna Award conferred?
- The award is presented by the President of India at a formal ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The awardee receives a medal, a certificate, and a cash award.
- Can the Bharat Ratna be awarded posthumously?
- Yes, the Bharat Ratna can be awarded posthumously. Several recipients have been honored posthumously for their outstanding contributions to the nation.
- How many individuals can receive the Bharat Ratna in a year?
- The Bharat Ratna is typically awarded to a maximum of three individuals in a given year.
- Who decides on the recipients of the Bharat Ratna?
- The Prime Minister recommends the names of the awardees to the President of India. However, recommendations can also be made by other ministers, state governments, and even private individuals.
- Is there any monetary reward associated with the Bharat Ratna Award?
- Yes, along with the prestigious medal and certificate, the Bharat Ratna also includes a monetary component.
- How has the Bharat Ratna evolved over the years?
- Initially, the Bharat Ratna was limited to recognizing exceptional contributions in the fields of art, literature, science, and public services. However, the scope was expanded to include contributions in sports as well. The award has evolved to reflect the changing dynamics of Indian society.
- Can a foreigner receive the Bharat Ratna?
- Yes, the Bharat Ratna can be awarded to non-citizens of India, but only in exceptional cases. The contributions should have a clear impact on India and should be in the spirit of the award.
- Is there any specific nomination process for the Bharat Ratna?
- There is no official nomination process. Recommendations can be made by individuals, organizations, or state governments, and the final decision rests with the Government of India.