Awardee | Year | Born | Died | Brief Description |
C. Rajagopalachari | 1954 | December 10, 1878 | December 25, 1972 | Independence activist, the last Governor-General of India, first governor of West Bengal, Home Minister, and Chief Minister of Madras. |
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan | 1954 | September 5, 1888 | April 17, 1975 | Philosopher and statesman, first Vice-President of India and second President of India. |
C. V. Raman | 1954 | November 7, 1888 | November 21, 1970 | Physicist known for his work in light scattering, Nobel Prize laureate in Physics for the discovery of Raman scattering and Raman spectroscopy. |
Bhagwan Das | 1955 | January 12, 1869 | September 18, 1958 | Independence activist, theosophist, and educationist, co-founder of Kashi Vidyapith. |
M. Visvesvaraya | 1955 | September 15, 1860 | April 14, 1962 | Civil engineer and statesman, 19th Diwan of Mysore. |
Jawaharlal Nehru | 1955 | November 14, 1889 | May 27, 1964 | Independence activist and politician, the first and longest-serving Prime Minister of India. |
Govind Ballabh Pant | 1957 | September 10, 1887 | March 7, 1961 | Independence activist and politician, first Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and Union Home Minister. |
Dhondo Keshav Karve | 1958 | April 18, 1858 | November 9, 1962 | Social reformer and educator, known for his work in women's welfare and education. |
Bidhan Chandra Roy | 1961 | July 1, 1882 | July 1, 1962 | Physician, politician, educationist, and second Chief Minister of West Bengal. |
Purushottam Das Tandon | 1961 | August 1, 1882 | July 1, 1962 | Independence activist and politician, speaker of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly, campaigned for Hindi as the official language. |
Rajendra Prasad | 1962 | December 3, 1884 | February 28, 1963 | Independence activist, lawyer, statesman, and scholar, first President of India. |
Zakir Husain | 1963 | February 8, 1897 | May 3, 1969 | Independence activist and philosopher, Vice Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University, Governor of Bihar, and third President of India. |
Pandurang Vaman Kane | 1963 | May 7, 1880 | April 18, 1972 | Indologist and Sanskrit scholar, known for his literary work 'History of Dharmaśāstra'. |
Lal Bahadur Shastri | 1966 | October 2, 1904 | January 11, 1966 | Independence activist and second Prime Minister of India, known for the slogan "Jai Jawan Jai Kisan". |
Indira Gandhi | 1971 | November 19, 1917 | October 31, 1984 | First woman Prime Minister of India. |
V. V. Giri | 1975 | August 10, 1894 | June 24, 1980 | Trade unionist and fourth President of India. |
K. Kamaraj | 1976 | July 15, 1903 | October 2, 1975 | Independence activist and statesman, former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. |
Mother Teresa | 1980 | August 26, 1910 | September 5, 1997 | Catholic nun and founder of the Missionaries of Charity. |
Vinoba Bhave | 1983 | September 11, 1895 | November 15, 1982 | Advocate of nonviolence, human rights, and social reformer. |
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan | 1987 | 1890 | January 20, 1988 | Pashtun independence activist. |
M. G. Ramachandran | 1988 | January 17, 1917 | December 24, 1987 | Actor, filmmaker, politician, and Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. |
B. R. Ambedkar | 1990 | April 14, 1891 | December 6, 1956 | Jurist, economist, politician, and social reformer, a key figure in the Dalit Buddhist movement. |
Nelson Mandela | 1990 | July 18, 1918 | December 5, 2013 | Leader of the Anti-Apartheid Movement in South Africa and President of South Africa. |
Rajiv Gandhi | 1991 | August 20, 1944 | May 21, 1991 | Politician and sixth Prime Minister of India. |
Vallabhbhai Patel | 1991 | October 31, 1875 | December 15, 1950 | Independence activist and first Deputy Prime Minister of India. |
Morarji Desai | 1991 | February 29, 1896 | April 10, 1995 | Independence activist and fourth Prime Minister of India. |
Abul Kalam Azad | 1992 | November 11, 1888 | February 22, 1958 | Scholar, independence activist, and first Minister of Education. |
J. R. D. Tata | 1992 | July 29, 1904 | November 29, 1993 | Industrialist, philanthropist, and aviation pioneer, Chairman of Tata Group. |
Satyajit Ray | 1992 | May 2, 1921 | April 23, 1992 | Filmmaker, screenwriter, music composer, graphic artist, lyricist, and author. |
Aruna Asaf Ali | 1997 | July 16, 1909 | July 29, 1996 | Independence activist and First Mayor of Delhi. |
Gulzarilal Nanda | 1997 | July 4, 1898 | January 15, 1998 | Politician and economist, specialized in labour issues, interim Prime Minister of India. |
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam | 1997 | October 15, 1931 | July 27, 2015 | Aerospace and defense scientist, known as the "Missile Man of India". |
M. S. Subbulakshmi | 1998 | September 16, 1916 | December 11, 2004 | Carnatic classical vocalist. |
Chidambaram Subramaniam | 1998 | January 30, 1910 | November 7, 2000 | Politician and Independence activist, former Minister of Agriculture of India. |
Jayaprakash Narayan | 1999 | October 11, 1902 | October 8, 1979 | Independence activist, theorist, socialist and political leader and social reformer. |
Amartya Sen | 1999 | November 3, 1933 | - | Economist and philosopher. |
Gopinath Bordoloi | 1999 | June 6, 1890 | August 5, 1950 | Independence activist and first Chief Minister of Assam. |
Ravi Shankar | 1999 | April 7, 1920 | December 11, 2012 | Musician and composer of Hindustani classical music, sitar player. |
Lata Mangeshkar | 2001 | September 28, 1929 | February 6, 2022 | Playback singer and music director. |
Bismillah Khan | 2001 | March 21, 1916 | August 21, 2006 | Hindustani classical shehnai player, credited with popularizing the shehnai. |
Bhimsen Joshi | 2009 | February 4, 1922 | January 24, 2011 | Hindustani classical vocalist. |
C. N. R. Rao | 2014 | June 30, 1934 | May 9, 2024 | Chemist and professor, Head of the Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India. |
Sachin Tendulkar | 2014 | April 24, 1973 | - | Cricketer. |
Madan Mohan Malaviya | 2015 | December 25, 1861 | November 12, 1946 | Scholar and founder of Banaras Hindu University. |
Atal Bihari Vajpayee | 2015 | December 25, 1924 | August 16, 2018 | Statesman and charismatic Prime Minister of India, elected nine times to the Lok Sabha and twice to the Rajya Sabha. |
Pranab Mukherjee | 2019 | December 11, 1935 | August 31, 2020 | Politician and senior leader in the Indian National Congress, 13th President of India. |
Nanaji Deshmukh | 2019 | October 11, 1916 | February 27, 2010 | Social activist dedicated to rural development, education, health, and rural self-reliance. |
Bhupen Hazarika | 2019 | September 8, 1926 | November 5, 2011 | Versatile artist, playback singer, lyricist, musician, singer, poet, and filmmaker from Assam, advocate for social issues. |
Karpoori Thakur | 2024 | January 24, 1924 | February 17, 1988 | Politician and former Chief Minister of Bihar, dedicated to social justice. |
Lal Krishna Advani | 2024 | November 8, 1927 | - | Veteran politician and Former Deputy Prime Minister. |
P. V. Narasimha Rao | 2024 | June 28, 1921 | December 23, 2004 | Former Prime Minister of India. |
Chaudhary Charan Singh | 2024 | December 23, 1902 | May 29, 1987 | Former Prime Minister of India. |
M. S. Swaminathan | 2024 | August 7, 1925 | September 28, 2023 | Agricultural scientist, known as the "Father of the Green Revolution in India". |