On 31 October 2026, the Ministry of Home Affairs awarded the Kendriya Grihmantri Dakshata Padak (Union Home Minister's Medal for Efficiency) to 490 personnel of state and Union Territory police forces, the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and the Central Police Organisations (CPOs).
The date is deliberate. The medal is announced every year on Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's birth anniversary, observed as Rashtriya Ekta Diwas. Patel was independent India's first Home Minister and the founder of the All India Services. The medal itself is only two years old. It was created in 2024 by merging four older awards, as part of a larger clean-up of India's police honours.
This article explains what the medal recognises, who can get it, how it fits into the wider system of police medals, and why "police" in India is mostly a state matter even when the medal comes from the Centre.
What the medal recognises
The Kendriya Grihmantri Dakshata Padak was instituted by an MHA notification dated 1 February 2024. It rewards excellence in four fields of police work:
- Special operation: counter-insurgency, counter-terrorism and other high-risk operations.
- Investigation: outstanding detection and investigation of crime.
- Intelligence: exceptional and daring intelligence work.
- Forensic science: meritorious work by serving government forensic scientists.
It can be given to members of: - state and UT police forces, security organisations, and their intelligence wings and special branches; - the Central Police Organisations, such as the CBI and the NIA; - the CAPFs, the National Security Guard and the Assam Rifles; - central, state and UT forensic science laboratories.
| Year | Awardees |
|---|---|
| 2024 (first year) | 463 |
| 2025 | 1,466 |
| 2026 | 490 |
The four medals it replaced
The 2024 notification merged four existing Home Ministry medals into this one:
| Old medal | What it recognised |
|---|---|
| Union Home Minister's Special Operation Medal | Special operations |
| Union Home Minister's Medal for Excellence in Investigation | Investigation; started in 2018 and announced every 12 August |
| Asadharan Aasuchana Kushalata Padak | Exceptional intelligence work |
| Union Home Minister's Awards for Meritorious Service in Forensic Science | Forensic science |
The investigation medal is a good example of how the old system worked. In 2023, its last year, it went to 140 police personnel. The CBI got 15 and the NIA 12, and 22 of the awardees were women. Under the new system the same kind of work is recognised under the "investigation" field of a single medal, announced once a year on Patel's birthday.
The 2024 overhaul of police medals
The Dakshata Padak was part of a broader rationalisation. In its Republic Day 2024 announcement, the Home Ministry said that sixteen gallantry and service medals for the police, fire services, home guards and civil defence, and correctional services had been merged into four:
| Medal | Awarded for |
|---|---|
| President's Medal for Gallantry (PMG) | A rare and conspicuous act of gallantry |
| Medal for Gallantry (GM) | A conspicuous act of gallantry |
| President's Medal for Distinguished Service (PSM) | A specially distinguished record of service |
| Medal for Meritorious Service (MSM) | Valuable service marked by resourcefulness and devotion to duty |
These four are announced twice a year, on Republic Day and Independence Day. The gallantry medals are given for saving life and property, preventing crime or arresting criminals, with the risk to the officer weighed in deciding the award.
Two other sets of honours are often confused with these.
- The Ashoka Chakra series (Ashoka Chakra, Kirti Chakra, Shaurya Chakra) is the peacetime gallantry series. It is open not only to the armed forces but also to the police, the CAPFs and civilians. Several police officers have received the Ashoka Chakra, many of them posthumously.
- The Jeevan Raksha Padak series (Sarvottam, Uttam and Jeevan Raksha Padak) honours saving a life, and is open to all citizens. It is announced around Republic Day.
Exam shortcut: PMG/GM/PSM/MSM = police service medals (twice a year). Ashoka/Kirti/Shaurya = peacetime gallantry, open to police and civilians too. Jeevan Raksha = saving a life. Dakshata Padak = efficiency in four fields, every 31 October.
Why Patel's birthday
Sardar Patel is linked to the police for reasons that go beyond the Ekta Diwas symbolism.
- As first Home Minister (1947–50), he insisted on keeping a professional, centrally recruited civil service. In his address to the first batch of probationers at Metcalfe House, Delhi, on 21 April 1947, he called the civil services the "steel frame" of the country. That date is now Civil Services Day.
- The Indian Police Service (IPS) replaced the colonial Indian Police. With the IAS, it is one of the two All India Services named in Article 312, which lets Parliament create All India Services (the Indian Forest Service was added in 1966).
- The academy that trains IPS officers, the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy in Hyderabad, carries his name.
Our article on Rashtriya Ekta Diwas and India's integration covers Patel's role in uniting the princely states.
Police in the Constitution: a state subject
The medal is Central, but policing in India is mainly a state responsibility:
- "Public order" and "police" are Entries 1 and 2 of the State List (Seventh Schedule). Recruiting, deploying and running the police are matters for the state government.
- The Union controls the CAPFs (CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP, SSB), the NSG and the Assam Rifles. Under Entry 2A of the Union List, added by the 42nd Amendment (1976), the Centre can deploy them in a state to aid the civil power.
- The IPS is recruited by the Union (through UPSC) but allotted to state cadres. That is why the same officer can serve both a state and the Centre.
The structure of state police has been the subject of reform for decades. In Prakash Singh v. Union of India (2006), the Supreme Court issued seven directions to insulate the police from political interference, including: - a State Security Commission; - a minimum two-year tenure for the DGP and key field officers; - separation of investigation from law-and-order duties; - a Police Establishment Board for transfers; - Police Complaints Authorities.
How far states have carried these out is still debated, and it is a frequent theme in essays and interviews. The constitutional basics are on our page on state government, the Governor and the Chief Minister.
Forensics: the newest of the four fields
The inclusion of forensic science reflects a shift in policing. Under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, which replaced the CrPC from 1 July 2024, a forensic expert must visit the crime scene for offences punishable with seven years or more. That has raised demand for trained forensic staff. The National Forensic Sciences University in Gandhinagar, set up by an Act of Parliament in 2020, is meant to supply them. A medal that names forensic scientists alongside officers in the field signals that evidence work is now treated as core police work.
🔑 Revision block
The news. Kendriya Grihmantri Dakshata Padak to 490 personnel on 31 October 2026 (Patel's birth anniversary).
The medal. Instituted by MHA notification of 1 February 2024; four fields: special operation, investigation, intelligence, forensic science; open to state/UT police, CPOs, CAPFs, NSG, Assam Rifles, forensic scientists. Awardees: 463 (2024), 1,466 (2025), 490 (2026).
Replaced four medals. HM's Special Operation Medal; HM's Medal for Excellence in Investigation (2018, announced 12 August); Asadharan Aasuchana Kushalata Padak; HM's Awards for Meritorious Service in Forensic Science.
2024 overhaul. 16 → 4 police/fire/home guard/correctional medals: PMG, GM, PSM, MSM; announced on Republic Day and Independence Day.
Other series. Ashoka/Kirti/Shaurya Chakra = peacetime gallantry, open to police and civilians. Jeevan Raksha Padak series = saving a life.
Constitution. Public order and police = State List, Entries 1 and 2; CAPF deployment = Union List Entry 2A (42nd Amendment, 1976); All India Services = Article 312. Prakash Singh (2006): seven directions. Civil Services Day = 21 April (Patel, 1947).
🎯 Practice MCQs
Q1. The Kendriya Grihmantri Dakshata Padak recognises excellence in which of the following fields? 1. Special operation 2. Investigation 3. Forensic science Select the correct answer using the code given below: (a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 and 3 only (c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3
→ (d) All three, plus intelligence, make up the medal's four fields.
Q2. The Kendriya Grihmantri Dakshata Padak was instituted in: (a) 2018 (b) 2020 (c) 2024 (d) 2026
→ (c) It was created by an MHA notification of 1 February 2024. 2018 is when the older investigation medal began.
Q3. Which of the following is NOT one of the four police medals created by the 2024 rationalisation? (a) Kirti Chakra (b) President's Medal for Gallantry (c) Medal for Meritorious Service (d) President's Medal for Distinguished Service
→ (a) The Kirti Chakra belongs to the separate Ashoka Chakra series of peacetime gallantry awards, which police officers can also receive.
Q4. "Police" and "public order" are placed in the Seventh Schedule in: (a) The Union List (b) The State List (c) The Concurrent List (d) The Union List after the 42nd Amendment
→ (b) They are Entries 1 and 2 of the State List. The 42nd Amendment added Entry 2A to the Union List, on deploying central forces in states.
Q5. Civil Services Day on 21 April commemorates: (a) Sardar Patel's address to civil service probationers in 1947 (b) The first UPSC examination (c) The creation of the IPS (d) The enactment of the All India Services Act
→ (a) Patel spoke to the first batch of probationers at Metcalfe House, Delhi, on 21 April 1947.
Q6. Under which Article can Parliament create a new All India Service? (a) Article 309 (b) Article 312 (c) Article 315 (d) Article 320
→ (b) Article 312 requires a Rajya Sabha resolution supported by two-thirds of the members present and voting. Article 315 is about Public Service Commissions.
Q7. Consider the following statements: 1. The Ashoka Chakra can be awarded to civilians and police personnel. 2. The Jeevan Raksha Padak series is awarded for saving human life. 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
→ (c) The Ashoka Chakra series is open beyond the armed forces, and the Jeevan Raksha series honours life-saving acts.
Q8. The Supreme Court's directions on police reform, including a State Security Commission and fixed tenure for the DGP, were given in: (a) Vineet Narain v. Union of India (b) D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal (c) Joginder Kumar v. State of UP (d) Prakash Singh v. Union of India
→ (d) Prakash Singh (2006) set out seven directions. D.K. Basu laid down arrest guidelines, Joginder Kumar dealt with arrests, and Vineet Narain concerned the independence of the CBI.
📋 How this gets asked (PYQ pattern)
Awards are a steady part of the CDS general knowledge section, but police medals are usually tested through classification. Which series is for gallantry in peacetime, which is for service, and which is for saving a life? The 2024 changes mean that older question banks are now out of date. "16 medals merged into 4" and "four medals merged into the Dakshata Padak" are both likely statement-type items.
Polity questions on policing come from the Seventh Schedule: police in the State List, central forces and their deployment in the Union List. Article 312 and the All India Services are another regular. Landmark cases such as Prakash Singh, D.K. Basu and Vineet Narain appear in match-the-following questions. The fresh hook this cycle is the 2026 award (490 personnel, 31 October).
Preparing for CDS? Make one table of Indian awards with four columns: name, who can receive it, what it is for and when it is announced. Then add the 2024 changes. Revise the constitutional side with our CDS/OTA polity notes, follow the daily CDS current affairs, and prepare with faculty that include retired officers in the upcoming Cavalier courses in Delhi.
Source: PIB / Ministry of Home Affairs, "'Kendriya Grihmantri Dakshata Padak' awarded to 490 personnel of various States/UTs/CAPFs/CPOs for the year 2026", 31 October 2026, and the releases for 2024 (463) and 2025 (1,466); MHA notification of 1 February 2024 on the merger of four medals; MHA Republic Day 2024 release on the rationalisation of police medals; "Union Home Minister's Medal for Excellence in Investigation, 2023" (12 August 2023). Constitutional provisions and case law checked against the Constitution of India and standard references.
✍️ Written by Hitendra Deswal — Polity & current-affairs faculty at The Cavalier. Reviewed by the Cavalier Faculty Desk.