Kohima, June 12 (MExN): Ministry of Home Affairs has stated through a notification that Jeevan Raksha Padak Series of Awards are being given for meritorious acts of humane nature in saving the life of a person in incidents like drowning, accidents, fire incidents, electrocution, landslides, animal attack and rescue operation in mines etc, stated a DIPR report.
As the name of the award suggests, the award is given to a rescuer for saving someone’s life. It is given in the following three categories:
(i) Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak - awarded for conspicuous courage in saving life under circumstances of very great danger to the life of the rescuer. (ii) Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak - awarded for courage and promptitude in saving life under circumstances of great danger to the life of the rescuer. (iii) Jeevan Raksha Padak - awarded for courage and promptitude in saving life under circumstances of grave bodily injury to the rescuer. Persons of either sex in all walks of life are eligible for these awards. Members of the Armed Forces, Police Forces and of recognized Fire Service etc. are eligible for these awards provided the life saving act is performed by them otherwise than in the course of their duty. The award is also conferred posthumously.
Every year, the Ministry of Home Affairs invites recommendations from all State Governments/UT Administrations and Ministries/Departments of the Government of India for these awards. The recommendations are examined by a high-level Awards Committee, which makes its recommendations to the Prime Minister and the President.
After approval of the President, the decoration of the award, i.e., Medal and Certificate along with the Demand Draft/Cheque of monetary allowance in respect of the awardees, are sent to the concerned recommending authorities.
Over the last few years, it has been observed that various acts of life saving by individuals during natural calamities, accidents, extremists attack, drowning/fire incidents etc. are reported in the print and electronic media. However, such valiant and gallant acts, go unrecognized in the absence of suitable nominations by the State/UT Government and authorities under whose jurisdiction such acts take place. You would appreciate that awards and decorations are tangible tokens of recognition of the services rendered by an individual. Such awards encourage and motivate others for similar action in the hour of need. The concerned authorities are, therefore, requested to send suitable and deserving nominations to this Ministry for consideration.
The recommendations for the awards are to be forwarded in the enclosed proforma (Annexure-I). As you would notice from the proforma, in addition to the bio-data, a detailed citation in narrative form, clearly bringing out the sequence-wise details of the incident as well as the specific role/ contribution of the person (rescuer) is to be forwarded in each case. A character and antecedents verification certificate is also to be furnished in each case in the enclosed proforma (Annexure-II). It may also be noted that the recommendations for this award are considered by Awards Committee within a period of two years from the date of performance of the act. Therefore, for the year 2018, any recommendation in respect of which the date of performance of the act falls prior to 1st October 2016 should not be forwarded to the Ministry for consideration.
It may be ensured that recommendations for Jeevan Raksha Padak series of awards for the year 2018 are sent to the Ministry latest by September 30.
