Consider the following statements about gallantry awards in India : 1. Post-independence, first three gallantry awards were instituted on 26th January, 1950 2. The first three gallantry awards were Ashoka Chakra Class-I, Ashoka Chakra Class-II and Ashoka Chakra Class-III Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
- (a)1 only
- (b)2 only
- (c)Both 1 and 2
- (d)Neither 1 nor 2
Correct — A, 1 only. The date in statement 1 is right. The decision to create three new Indian gallantry awards was taken in June 1948, and they were established on 26 January 1950 — the day India became a republic — by Rajendra Prasad, the first President, with effect from 15 August 1947, so that acts of valour from Independence Day onwards could be recognised. Statement 2 names the wrong three. The first three were the Param Vir Chakra, the Maha Vir Chakra and the Vir Chakra, the wartime series awarded for valour in the presence of the enemy. The Ashoka Chakra series came two years later: the Ashoka Chakra Class I was established on 4 January 1952, again deemed effective from 15 August 1947, as the highest of three peacetime gallantry awards, and in January 1967 the three classes were renamed Ashoka Chakra, Kirti Chakra and Shaurya Chakra. So the first statement stands alone.
- (b)2 only — This keeps the wrong list and throws away the right date. The three awards created on 26 January 1950 were the Param Vir Chakra, Maha Vir Chakra and Vir Chakra, not the Ashoka Chakra classes.
- (c)Both 1 and 2 — The date and the list belong to two different sets of awards. Accepting both means dating the Ashoka Chakra series to 1950, whereas it was established on 4 January 1952.
- (d)Neither 1 nor 2 — Statement 1 is accurate, so rejecting both is wrong. Candidates land here when they remember that the awards were made effective from 15 August 1947 and conclude that 26 January 1950 must therefore be the wrong date; the two dates coexist, one for institution and one for effect.
India's gallantry decorations come in two parallel ladders. The wartime ladder, for valour in the presence of the enemy, runs Param Vir Chakra, Maha Vir Chakra and Vir Chakra. The peacetime ladder, for conspicuous gallantry away from the battlefield, runs Ashoka Chakra, Kirti Chakra and Shaurya Chakra. The Param Vir Chakra and the Ashoka Chakra sit at the head of their respective ladders and are treated as equivalents in the order of precedence, which is why the two series are best learned side by side rather than one after the other.
The trap here is that both halves of the question are true statements about Indian gallantry awards — they have simply been glued to each other wrongly. The date belongs to the wartime series, the names to the peacetime series. A quick way to keep them apart is to remember that the Republic's first act in this field, on 26 January 1950, was to provide for war, and that the peacetime series followed in 1952, once the immediate business of the 1947-48 operations was behind it. Note also the recurring device of making the award effective from 15 August 1947, well before the date of institution — that is why the earliest Param Vir Chakra was awarded for an action in 1947 even though the decoration did not formally exist at the time.
- In June 1948 it was decided to institute three new Indian gallantry awards — the Param Vir Chakra, the Maha Vir Chakra and the Vir Chakra.
- They were established on 26 January 1950 by President Rajendra Prasad, with effect from 15 August 1947.
- The Ashoka Chakra Class I was established on 4 January 1952, also deemed to be in effect from 15 August 1947, as the highest of the three peacetime gallantry awards.
- In January 1967 the three classes were renamed Ashoka Chakra, Kirti Chakra and Shaurya Chakra.
- The Ashoka Chakra is the peacetime equivalent of the Param Vir Chakra in the order of precedence.
- Attaching the 1950 date to the Ashoka Chakra series, which came in 1952.
- Treating the date of institution and the date of effect as the same thing; both series were made effective from 15 August 1947.
- Forgetting that the Ashoka Chakra classes were renamed in 1967, so pre-1967 references use the old class numbers.
Asked as a two-statement item in which a true date and a true list are attached to each other wrongly — the commonest way this topic is set.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which three gallantry awards were instituted on 26 January 1950 ?
- (a)Ashoka Chakra, Kirti Chakra and Shaurya Chakra
- (b)Param Vir Chakra, Maha Vir Chakra and Vir Chakra
- (c)Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and Vishisht Seva Medal
- (d)Sena Medal, Nao Sena Medal and Vayu Sena Medal
Answer(b) Param Vir Chakra, Maha Vir Chakra and Vir Chakra — established on 26 January 1950 with effect from 15 August 1947.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The awards originally called Ashoka Chakra Class I, Class II and Class III were renamed in 1967 as
- (a)Param Vir Chakra, Maha Vir Chakra and Vir Chakra
- (b)Ashoka Chakra, Kirti Chakra and Shaurya Chakra
- (c)Sena Medal, Nao Sena Medal and Vayu Sena Medal
- (d)Vir Chakra, Kirti Chakra and Sena Medal
Answer(b) Ashoka Chakra, Kirti Chakra and Shaurya Chakra — the three peacetime gallantry awards instituted on 4 January 1952.