Context:

  • The Centre recently announced it would award the Bharat Ratna posthumously to Karpoori Thakur, former chief minister of Bihar.
  • This is the birth centenary year of Thakur which is also known as ‘Jannayak’, or the leader of the people.

About Bharat Ratna:

  • The Bharat Ratna is known as the highest civilian award of the Republic of India.
  • It was instituted on 2 January 1954 and the award is conferred in recognition of "exceptional service/performance of the highest order", without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex.
  • The award was originally limited to achievements in the arts, literature, science, and public services, but the government expanded the scope and the criteria to include "any field of human endeavour" in December 2011.
  • The recommendations for the Bharat Ratna are made by the Prime Minister to the President, with a maximum of three nominees being awarded per every year.
  • The recipients receive a Sanad (certificate) signed by the President and a peepalleaf-shaped medallion.
  • It is important to note there is no monetary grant associated with the award.
  • Bharat Ratna recipients rank seventh in the Indian order of precedence.
  • The Bharat Ratna, along with other personal civil honours, was briefly suspended from July 1977 to January 1980, during the change in the national government.
  • They were suspended for second time from August 1992 to December 1995, when several public-interest litigations challenged the constitutional validity of the awards.