NEW DELHI: On the eve of this year’s Republic Day, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Sunday announced and released the list of 982 recipients of Gallantry and service medals belonging to Police, Fire, Home Guard & Civil Defence and correctional service.
These awards include Gallantry, the President's Medal for Distinguished Service and the Medal for Meritorious Service. This year, a total of 982 medals will be conferred, comprising 125 Gallantry Medals, 101 President's Medals for Distinguished Service and 756 Medals for Meritorious Service.
According to the MHA’s official statement, in the Police category, 121 officers and personnel and four for the Fire Service category have been selected for the Gallantry Medal, in the category of the Presidents Medal for Distinguished Service 89 will be given in the Police category, five in fire service, three in civil defence & Home Guard and four in correctional service categories.
Out of 756 Medal for Meritorious Service, 664 have been awarded to Police Service, 34 to Fire Service, 33 to Civil Defence & Home Guard Service and 25 to correctional Service, it said.
The senior most Police officer in the rank of Director General, who received the Gallantry award, belongs to Bihar. As senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer and the state’s DG STF, Kundan Krishnan, along with two of his juniors in the rank of Sub-Inspector (Arjun Lal) and Constable (Jitendra Singh) are the recipients of the medal.
The highest number of Gallantry Medals has gone to personnel of J&K Police, followed by members of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), who majorly engaged in the anti-Naxal operations and the Border Security Force (BSF), guarding India’s sensitive frontiers with Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The J&K Police have once again led the pack of state police organisations and the Central Armed Police Forces by securing a record 33 Gallantry Medals.
Among the awardees include IPS officer Tanushree. The other prominent awardees include Senior Superintendent of Police Sahabir Nawab and Deputy Superintendent of Police Javaid Ahmad Lone
Maharashtra Police followed J&K in receiving the Gallantry Medal, with 31 personnel selected for the award and out of them,28 are constables.
The CRPF on its part bagged 12 gallantry awards, whereas the Uttar Pradesh Police (19) and the Chhattisgarh Police (14).
For the Fire Services, 39 awards have been announced, which include 4 Gallantry Medals, five Presidents Medals for Distinguished Service and 34 Medals for Meritorious Service.
In the Home Guard and Civil Defence category, the honours include three President's Medals for Distinguished Service and 33 Medals for Meritorious Service.
For Correctional Services, four personnel are recognised with the President's Medal for Distinguished Service, while 25 will receive the Medal for Meritorious Service.
This annual recognition is a tribute to the bravery, dedication and distinguished service of officers and personnel across states, Union Territories and the CAPFs, the MHA said in the statement.
The medals will be presented as part of the Republic Day celebrations to acknowledge the exceptional contribution of these officers in safeguarding law & order and public safety in the country.