Ashok Chakra (AC) Overview
The Ashoka Chakra is India's highest peacetime military decoration awarded for valor, courageous action, or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield. It is the peacetime equivalent of the Param Vir Chakra (PVC) and is awarded for the "most conspicuous bravery or some daring or pre-eminent valour or self-sacrifice" other than in the face of the enemy. The decoration may be awarded either to military or civilian personnel.
Havildar Bachittar Singh and Naik Narbahadur Thapa were the first recipients of the Ashoka Chakra. Subsequent awards of the Ashoka Chakra are recognized by a bar to the medal ribbon. A recipient can be awarded the Kirti Chakra or Shaurya Chakra in addition to separate acts of gallantry.
History of Ashok Chakra (AC)
The medal was originally established on 4 January 1952 as the "Ashoka Chakra, Class I" as the first step of a three-class sequence of non-combatant bravery decorations. In 1967, these decorations were removed from the "class-based" system and renamed as the Ashoka Chakra, Kirti Chakra, and Shaurya Chakra. This is an important point in understanding the independent Indian view of decorations. It would also lead to changes in the Padma Vibhushan series, the distinguished service medal series, the life-saving medal series, and the Defence Security Corps medal series.
From 1 February 1999, the central government instituted a monthly stipend for Ashoka Chakra recipients of ₹1400. Jammu and Kashmir awarded a cash award of ₹1500 for recipients of this award.
Ashok Chakra (AC) Recipient List (1952-2026)
| Year | Rank | Recipient Name | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shubhanshu Shukla | |||
| Babu Ram * | |||
| Nazir Ahmad Wani * | |||
| Jyoti Prakash Nirala * | |||
| Hangpan Dada * | |||
| Mohan Nath Goswami * | |||
| Mukund Varadarajan * | |||
| Neeraj Kumar Singh * | |||
| K. Prasad Babu * | |||
| Navdeep Singh * | |||
| Laishram Jyotin Singh * | |||
| Rajesh Kumar * | |||
| D. Sreeram Kumar | |||
| Mohit Sharma * | |||
| Bahadur Singh Bohra * | |||
| Hemant Karkare * | |||
| Vijay Salaskar * | |||
| Ashok Kamte * | |||
| Tukaram Omble * | |||
| Gajender Singh Bisht * | |||
| Sandeep Unnikrishnan * | |||
| Mohan Chand Sharma * | |||
| Jojan Thomas * | |||
| R. P. Diengdoh * | |||
| Pramod Kumar Satapathy * | |||
| Dinesh Raghu Raman * | |||
| Harshan Radhakrishnan Nair * | |||
| Chuni Lal * | |||
| Vasanth Venugopal * | |||
| Triveni Singh * | |||
| Sanjog Chhetri * | |||
| Suresh Chand Yadav * | |||
| Surinder Singh * | |||
| Rambeer Singh Tomar * | |||
| Jagdish Prasad Yadav * | |||
| Matbar Singh Negi * | |||
| Kamlesh Kumari Yadav * | |||
| Sudhir Kumar Walia * | |||
| Puneet Nath Datt * | |||
| Shanti Swarup Rana * | |||
| Arun Singh Jasrotia * | |||
| Rajiv Kumar Joon * | |||
| Sujjan Singh Yadav * | |||
| Harsh Uday Singh Gaur * | |||
| Neelakantan Jayachandran Nair * | |||
| Rakesh Singh Malhan * | |||
| Sandeep Sankhla * | |||
| Randhir Prasad Verma * | |||
| Neerja Bhanot * | |||
| Vijay Jagirdar * | |||
| Chhering Mutup | |||
| Nirbhay Singh Sisodiya * | |||
| Bhawani Datt Joshi * | |||
| Ram Prakash Roperia * | |||
| Jasbir Singh Raina | |||
| Bhukant Mishra * | |||
| Rakesh Sharma | |||
| Gennadi Strekalov | |||
| Yury Malyshev | |||
| Cyrus Addie Pithawalla | |||
| Munni Lal * | |||
| Gurnam Singh * | |||
| Bhure Lal | |||
| Ummed Singh Mahra * | |||
| Baij Nath Singh * | |||
| Jas Ram Singh | |||
| Takhat Singh * | |||
| Lakhan Singh | |||
| Hukum Singh | |||
| Govind Singh | |||
| Dhanpat Singh | |||
| Shankar Lal Shrivastava * | |||
| Tej Singh * | |||
| Lajja Ram * | |||
| Chaman Lal * | |||
| Purshottam * | |||
| Sal Bahadur Limbu * | |||
| Man Bahadur Rai | |||
| Eric James Tucker * | |||
| Jagannath Raoji Chitnis * | |||
| Pollur Mutthuswamy Raman * | |||
| Joginder Singh * | |||
| Sundar Singh | |||
| Damodar Kashinath Jatar * | |||
| Suhas Biswas | |||
| Narbahadur Thapa | |||
| Bachittar Singh * |
