Detailed description of Gallantry Other than in the Face of Enemy (Peacetime gallantry awards)

Welcome back friends, I hope you liked the information provided in previous blog. Today I am going to discuss the Gallantry Other than in the Face of Enemy (Peacetime gallantry awards). Right now I don’t have statistics on no. of peace time gallantry awards awarded till date. I have filed an RTI for details of recipients of all the gallantry awards. I will update this blog as and when I receive the response from department of defence. I have also filed RTI for the list of all the martyrs post-Independence and will publish the list as and when I receive the reply. If you have any problem with the terms in this blog please let me know by comment. I will try to explain those words. Please refer this link for the meaning of some words; I have also posted the meaning in comment section. Today’s discussion is in two parts, first part will be eligibility for the awards and the second part will be the detailed description of awards. So let’s begin with eligibility for awards.

Personnel Eligible for awards: 

1. Officers, men and women of all ranks of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, of any of the Reserve Forces, of the Territorial Army, Militia and of any other lawfully constituted Forces.
2. Members of the Nursing Services of the Armed Forces.
3. Civilian citizens of either sex in all walks of life and members of Police Forces including Central Para-Military Forces and Railway Protection Force.

Bar on an award:

If a recipient of the Chakra again performs such an act of gallantry as would have made him or her eligible to receive the Chakra, such further act of gallantry shall be recognised by a Bar to be attached to the ribbon by which the Chakra is suspended and, for every subsequent act of gallantry, an additional Bar shall be added. For every such Bar, a replica of the Chakra in miniature shall be added to the ribbon when worn alone.

Ashok Chakra:

Ashok Chakra is India's highest peacetime military decoration awarded for valor, courageous action or selfsacrifice away from the battlefield. It is the peace time equivalent of the Param Vir Chakra, and is awarded for the "most conspicuous bravery or some daring or preeminent valour or selfsacrifice" other than in the face of the enemy. The decoration may be awarded either to military or civilian personnel. It replaced the British George Cross. Neerja bhanot is the only person who got bravery award from both India and Pakistan.

Medal: The Ashok Chakra is circular in shape, 1-3/8 inches in diameter with rims on both sides and will be of gold gilt. On the obverse, it shall have embossed a replica of Ashoka's Chakra in the centre surrounded by a lotus wreath. On its reverse the words "Ashoka Chakra" is embossed both in Hindi and English, the two versions are separated by two lotus flowers.

Ribbon: The Ashok chakra is held by green colour ribbon divided into two equal segments by an orange vertical line.

Conditions of Eligibility: The Chakra is 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. The decoration may be awarded posthumously.

Neerja Bhaot only recipient of gallantry awards from both India and Pakistan

KIRTI CHAKRA

The Kirti Chakra is an Indian military decoration awarded for valour, courageous action or selfsacrifice away from the field of battle. It may be awarded to civilians as well as military personnel, including posthumous awards. It is the peacetime equivalent of the Maha Vir Chakra. It is second in order of precedence of peacetime gallantry awards; it comes after Ashoka Chakra and before Shaurya Chakra. Before 1967, the award was known as the Ashoka Chakra, Class II. Col. N. J. Nair is the only soldier who has been awarded both the Ashok Chakra and the Kirti Chakra.

Medal: The Medal is made of standard silver. The Kirti Chakra is circular in shape, 1-3/8 inches in diameter. On the backside of the medal a replica of Ashok Chakra (Ashok chakra that is printed on our national flag not the gallantry award) is embossed in the centre surrounded by lotus wreath and “KIRTI CHAKRA” is written both in Hindi and English and both the versions are separated by two lotus flower.

Ribbon: The Kirti chakra is held by green colour ribbon divided into three equal segments by two orange vertical lines.

Conditions of Eligibility: The medal is awarded for conspicuous gallantry otherwise than in the face of the enemy. The decoration may be awarded posthumously.

Col. N. J. Nair is the only recipient of both Ashok Chakra and Keerti Chakra

SHAURYA CHAKRA:

The Shaurya Chakra is awarded for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice while not engaged in direct action with the enemy. It may be awarded to civilians as well as military personnel. It may be awarded posthumously. It is the peacetime equivalent of the Vir Chakra. It is generally awarded for Counter Insurgency operations and actions against the enemy during peacetime. It is third in order of precedence of peacetime gallantry awards and comes after the Ashoka Chakra and the Kirti Chakra. It comes before the Sena Medal in ranking. Before 1967, the award was known as the Ashoka Chakra, Class III.

Medal: The Medal is made of bronze. The Shaurya Chakra is circular in shape, 1-3/8 inches in diameter. On the backside of the medal a replica of Ashok Chakra (Ashok chakra that is printed on our national flag not the gallantry award) is embossed in the centre surrounded by lotus wreath and “Shaurya CHAKRA” is written both in Hindi and English and both the versions are separated by two lotus flower.

Ribbon: The Shaurya chakra is held by green colour ribbon divided into four equal segments by three orange vertical lines.

Conditions of Eligibility: The Chakra is awarded for gallantry otherwise than in the face of the

enemy. The decoration may be awarded posthumously.

President Pranab Mukherjee presenting 'Shaurya Chakra' (from right to left) to Captain Manish Singh, wife of Captain A Rahul Ramesh (posthumous) from Corps of Engineers and wife of Naik Krishan Kumar (posthumous) from Sikh Light Infantry

Next time I will be sharing Information about structure of Indian army. Do post your valuable suggestion in comments and suggest about future posts. Please read, follow and share the blog with your friends.