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The Param Vir Chakra is an India n Military Decoration given for Valour in combat operations. It is India 's highest military honor. The name is sometimes abbreviated as PVC. It literally means 'Wheel of the Ultimate Brave' (Sanskrit: Param = Ultimate; Vir (Pronounced veer) = Brave; Chakra = Wheel). Equivalent awards are the Medal Of Honor in the United states and the Victoria Cross in the United Kingdom. The Param Vir Chakra (PVC) is the highest gallantry award for officers and other enlisted personnel of all military branches of India for the highest degree of valour or self-sacrifice in the presence of the enemy. It may be awarded Posthumously and, indeed, most of the awards have been posthumous. Provision was made for the award of a bar for second (or subsequent) awards of the Param Vir Chakra . To date, there have been no such awards. Award of the decoration carries with it the right to use P.V.C. as a postnominal abbreviation. The award also carries a cash allowance for those under the rank of second Lieutenant (or the appropriate service equivalent) and, in some cases, a cash award. On the death of the recipient, the Pension is transferred to the widow until her death or remarriage. The paltry amount of the pension has been a rather controversial issue throughout the life of the decoration. By March 1999 , the stipend stood at Rs. 1500 per month. In addition, many states have established individual pension rewards that far exceeds the central government's stipend for the recipients of the decoration. The PVC was established on 26 January 1950 , by the President of India , with effect from 15 August , 1947 , and presently it is the second highest award of the government of India after Bharat Ratna (amendment in the statute on 26 January 1980 resulted in this order of wearing). DESIGN The medal was designed by Mrs. Savitri Khanolankar (born Eva Yuonne Linda Maday-de-Maros to a Hungarian father and Russia n mother) who was married to an Indian Army officer. By coincidence, the first Param Vir Chakra was awarded to her son-in-law's brother, Major Som Nath Sharma for his bravery in the Kashmir operations in November 1947 . He died while evicting Pakistani infiltrators and raiders from Srinagar Airport . This was when India and newly-formed Pakistan had the first war over the Kashmir issue. The medal is a circular Bronze disc with a 1-3/8 Inch (approximately 3.5 Centimetre ) diameter. In the center, on a raised circle, the state emblem. Surrounding this, four replicas of Indra's Vajra (the all-powerful mythic weapon on the ancient Vedic god of war). The decoration is suspended from a straight swiveling suspension bar. It is named on the edge. On the rear, around a plain center, two legends separated by lotus flowers. The words Param Vir Chakra are written in Hindi and English . The decoration is suspended from a straight swiveling suspension bar. The ribbon which holds the Param Vir Chakra is of 32 mm length and purple in colour. The award carries a cash allowance for those under the rank of second lieutenant (or the appropriate service equivalent) and, in some cases, a cash award. Subedar Major Bana Singh of the Eighth Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry was the only serving personnel of the Indian defence establishment with a Param Vir Chakra till the Kargil operations. The medal was designed to symbolise Rishi Dadhichi who donated his thigh bones to gods for making Vajra, and contains an image of Shivaji's sword Bhawani on the other side. DECORATED PERSONNEL The Param Vir Chakra has been awarded to: Incidentally, both Major Sharma (The first recipient) and Captain Batra belong to the same village, Palampur, in India's Himachal Pradesh state. |
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