Param vir Chakra awardees – Gallantry Award
PVC is the highest wartime gallantry medal for officers and other enlisted personnel of all military branches of India for the highest degree of valour in the presence of the enemy, on land, at sea or in the air.
The medal was introduced in January 1950 and with effect from 15 August 1947. It is made of bronze. It can be awarded posthumously. Param Vir Chakra is the equivalent award of Victoria Cross in the United Kingdom and the Medal of Honour in the United States.
PARAM VIR CHAKRA
Medal: Circular in shape, made of bronze, one and three eighth inches in diameter and shall have embossed on the obverse four replicas of “Indra’s Vajra” with the State Emblem embossed in the centre. On its reverse, it shall have embossed “PARAM VIR CHAKRA” both in Hindi and in English with two lotus flowers between the Hindi and the English inscriptions.
Ribbon: Plain purple coloured ribbon.
Bar: If any recipient of the Chakra shall again perform such an act of bravery as would have made him or her eligible to receive the Chakra, such further act of bravery shall be recorded by a Bar to be attached to the riband by which the Chakra is suspended, and for every such additional act of bravery, an additional Bar shall be added, and any such Bar or Bars may also be awarded posthumously.
For every Bar awarded a replica of the “Indra’s Vajra” in miniature shall be added to the riband when worn alone.
List of Param Vir Chakra awardees
| S.No | Name | Regiment | Date |
| 1 | Major Somnath Sharma | 4th Battalion, Kumaon Regiment | 3 Nov, 1947, Posthumous |
| 2 | Second Lieutenant Rama Raghoba Rane | Bombay Engineers | 08-Apr-48 |
| 3 | Naik Jadu Nath Singh | 1st Battalion, Rajput Regiment | 6 February, 1948, Posthumous |
| 4 | Company Havildar Major Piru Singh Shekhawat | 6th Battalion, Rajputana Rifles | 18 July, 1948, Posthumous |
| 5 | Lance Naik Karam Singh | Sikh Regiment | 13-Oct-48 |
| 6 | Captain Gurbachan Singh Salaria | 3/1 Gorkha Rifles | 05-Dec-61 |
| 7 | Major Dhan Singh Thapa | 1st Battalion, 8th Gorkha Rifles | 21-Oct-62 |
| 8 | Subedar Joginder Singh | 1st Battalion, Sikh Regiment | 23 October, 1962, Posthumous |
| 9 | Major Shaitan Singh | 13th Battalion, Kumaon Regiment | 18 November, 1962,Posthumous |
| 10 | Company Quarter Master Havildar Abdul Hamid | 4th Battalion, The Grenadiers | 10 September, 1965, Posthumous |
| 11 | Lieutenant-Colonel Ardeshir Burzorji Tarapore | 17th Poona Horse | 11 September, 1965, Posthumous |
| 12 | Lance Naik Albert Ekka | 14th Battalion, Brigade of the Guards | 4 December, 1971, Posthumous |
| 13 | Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon | No.18 Squadron, Indian Air Force | 14 December, 1971, Posthumous |
| 14 | 2/Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal | 17 Poona Horse | 16 December, 1971, Posthumous |
| 15 | Major Hoshiar Singh | 3rd Battalion, The Grenadiers Regiment | 17-Dec-71 |
| 16 | Naib Subedar Bana Singh | Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry | 23-May-87 |
| 17 | Major Ramaswamy Parameshwaran | 8th Battalion, Mahar Regiment | 25 November, 1987, Posthumous |
| 18 | Captain Manoj Kumar Pandey | 1st Battalion, 11th Gorkha Rifles | 3 July, 1999, Posthumous |
| 19 | Grenadier Yogendra Singh Yadav | 18th Battalion, The Grenadiers | 04-Jul-99 |
| 20 | Rifleman Sanjay Kumar | 13th Battalion, Jammu & Kashmir Rifles | 04-Jul-99 |
| 21 | Captain Vikram Batra | 13th Battalion, Jammu & Kashmir Rifles | 7 July, 1999, Posthumous |
Hence, we can say that 21 soldiers have been awarded Param Vir Chakra the highest Gallantry award in India and none of them are form Navy. Out of which 20 were from the Indian Army and one from the Air force.
Gallantry awards along with some other Defence Distinguished Service awards are conferred to the awardees/Next-of-Kins (NoKs) by the President at the Defence Investiture Ceremony held every year at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. However, the PVC and the Ashoka Chakra are conferred by the President to the awardees/NoKs on the occasion of the Republic Day Parade at the Rajpath.
