On 8 June 2026, President Smt Droupadi Murmu presided over Phase-I of the Defence Investiture Ceremony 2026 at Rashtrapati Bhawan, conferring 51 gallantry awards: 7 Kirti Chakras (2 posthumous), 15 Vir Chakras (3 posthumous) and 29 Shaurya Chakras (1 posthumous) to personnel of the Armed Forces, Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and State/UT Police.
The ceremony draws attention each year not just for the bravery it recognises, but because India's gallantry awards system is one of the most consistently tested areas in NDA and CDS GK papers. This piece unpacks the full system so you walk into your exam with zero confusion.
Why "Defence Investiture Ceremony"?
The word investiture means a formal ceremony of conferring an office, honour or power. In India, the President — as the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces — formally presents gallantry and distinguished-service awards to personnel (or their next of kin, in posthumous cases). Rashtrapati Bhawan's Durbar Hall hosts the ceremony, often across two phases given the number of awards in any given cycle.
The ceremony covers all three services, CAPF (CRPF, BSF, ITBP, CISF, SSB, NSG and Assam Rifles — under the Ministry of Home Affairs) and State/UT Police. A point many aspirants miss: gallantry awards are not exclusive to the Indian Army, Navy or Air Force. A CRPF inspector who neutralises a terrorist, a BSF constable who repels a border incursion, and an Assam Rifles rifleman who rescues civilians in a hostile-fire situation — all are eligible.
The Complete Gallantry Awards Hierarchy
India has two parallel three-tier gallantry award hierarchies — one for wartime (enemy contact required) and one for peacetime (bravery other than in the face of the enemy). Get these six awards, their tiers and the wartime/peacetime distinction absolutely right.
Wartime Gallantry (in the face of the enemy)
| Rank | Award | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| Highest | Param Vir Chakra (PVC) | Most conspicuous bravery / most pre-eminent act of valour, self-sacrifice against the enemy |
| Second | Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) | Acts of pre-eminent gallantry in the presence of the enemy |
| Third | Vir Chakra | Acts of gallantry in the presence of the enemy |
Vir Chakra is what was conferred at this ceremony — 15 of them. Notably, 12 of those 15 cite 7 May 2025 as the date of act, covering IAF Group Captains, Wing Commanders, Squadron Leaders and Army officers. This cluster is widely linked to the aerial and ground operations of May 2025 (Operation Sindoor). The date cluster is an important detail for your GK round.
Peacetime Gallantry (other than in the face of the enemy)
| Rank | Award | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| Highest | Ashoka Chakra (AC) | Most conspicuous bravery / most pre-eminent act of valour otherwise than in face of the enemy |
| Second | Kirti Chakra (KC) | Conspicuous gallantry otherwise than in the face of the enemy |
| Third | Shaurya Chakra (SC) | Gallantry otherwise than in the face of the enemy |
Kirti Chakra and Shaurya Chakra are peacetime awards — they cover counter-terrorism operations, internal security, insurgency-related bravery, disaster response, and other hazardous acts not directly against an enemy state. The 7 Kirti Chakras and 29 Shaurya Chakras at this ceremony primarily recognise counter-insurgency and internal security acts.
Posthumous awards go to the next of kin. At this ceremony, two Kirti Chakras were conferred posthumously: Lieutenant Shashank Tiwari (Army Service Corps, 1 Sikkim Scouts, act date 22 May 2025) and Sepoy Janjal Pravin Prabhakar (Mahar Regiment, 1 Rashtriya Rifles, act date 6 July 2024). The Rashtriya Rifles (RR) is the Army's dedicated counter-insurgency force deployed primarily in Jammu & Kashmir — its units (1 RR, 44 RR, etc.) appear regularly in gallantry citations.
Quick Memory Framework
A clean way to remember the hierarchy:
- Wartime: Param Vir > Maha Vir > Vir Chakra → think: P–M–V (the enemy makes it heavy)
- Peacetime: Ashoka > Kirti > Shaurya Chakra → think: A–K–S (the peace keeps the alphabet)
In both tiers, the second award is awarded by the President; the first is the highest in the nation.
Gallantry vs Distinguished Service Awards
Examiners love to test this boundary. Gallantry awards recognise bravery in hazardous acts or enemy contact. Distinguished/Meritorious Service awards recognise long or outstanding service (not bravery per se). The main distinguished-service awards are:
- Param Vishisht Seva Medal — highest, for distinguished service
- Ati Vishisht Seva Medal — second
- Vishisht Seva Medal — third
These are conferred at a separate ceremony and are completely independent from the gallantry hierarchy. Do NOT conflate them.
There are also sports awards for defence personnel (like the Chief of Army Staff's Rolling Trophy) and unit citations — all separate from individual gallantry awards.
CAPF — Often the Hidden Key
For NDA/CDS aspirants, the CAPF dimension of gallantry awards is underestimated. Know these specifics:
CAPF = Central Armed Police Forces, comprising: 1. CRPF — Central Reserve Police Force (largest paramilitary) 2. BSF — Border Security Force 3. ITBP — Indo-Tibetan Border Police 4. CISF — Central Industrial Security Force 5. NSG — National Security Guard (counter-terrorism) 6. SSB — Sashastra Seema Bal (Bhutan and Nepal borders) 7. Assam Rifles — oldest paramilitary; eastern frontier; under MHA administration, Army operational control
All seven are under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), NOT under the Ministry of Defence. Yet they are eligible for national gallantry awards — especially Shaurya Chakra and Kirti Chakra for counter-terrorism and insurgency acts. This is a standard exam trap: don't assume gallantry awards are only for the three armed services.
The distinction matters constitutionally too. The President is the Supreme Commander of the three armed forces (Army, Navy, Air Force). CAPF report to the MHA and are not under the President's direct command — yet the same President confers their gallantry awards, because it is the Government of India (not the defence establishment alone) that recognises national bravery.
You can read more about India's constitutional bodies and the President's roles in Polity: Constitutional Bodies.
The Role of "Posthumous" Awards
When a recipient dies in the act of gallantry, the award is conferred posthumously — i.e., in their absence, with the medal and citation going to the next of kin (spouse, parent or child). Posthumous awards carry the same rank and precedence as regular awards. They are NOT downgraded and NOT a lesser honour — in fact, posthumous gallantry awards attract the most media attention because they represent the ultimate sacrifice.
For welfare purposes, posthumous gallantry awardees' families typically receive: - A higher family pension (gallantry category pension) - Cash awards from state governments (vary by state) - Preference in government employment schemes - A share of the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund awards in some cases
The lag between act and award can be significant — Lieutenant Tiwari's act was on 22 May 2025 but the award was conferred in June 2026, more than a year later. This is because the selection process involves multiple levels of recommendation, scrutiny and approval.
Operation Sindoor and the Vir Chakra Cluster
The 12 Vir Chakras citing 7 May 2025 as date of act deserve specific attention. India does not officially label which operations triggered which awards, but the cluster of IAF pilots (Group Captains, Wing Commanders, Squadron Leaders) and Army officers for acts on that specific date signals coordinated aerial and ground operations — widely associated with Operation Sindoor, India's May 2025 military response to the Pahalgam attack.
For NDA aspirants, this connects to a much broader topic: India's operational posture and joint warfare doctrine. The presence of both IAF pilots and Army officers in the same Vir Chakra list suggests a joint operations context — air strikes plus ground action — reflecting the evolution of India's tri-service integration.
You can explore the government schemes side of defence — welfare for soldiers and CAPF — through Economics: Government Schemes.
Quick Revision: High-Yield Exam Facts
The following points appear in NDA/CDS papers regularly:
The Param Vir Chakra: - India's highest military honour overall (wartime) - Instituted in 1950, first awarded retroactively (Captain Vikram Batra, Major Somnath Sharma, etc.) - Only 21 PVCs have been awarded since Independence — of which 14 are posthumous - The circular vajra (thunderbolt) design on the medal represents Indra's weapon
The Ashoka Chakra: - India's highest peacetime gallantry honour - Also worn on civilian dress — unlike service medals, it may be worn with civilian clothes - Same precedence table as PVC (PVC comes before AC in the order of precedence because it is the highest overall)
Order of precedence (simplified, most important to know): PVC → AC → MVC → KC → Vir Chakra → Shaurya Chakra
The 1947 connection: All six gallantry awards were instituted on 26 January 1950, the day India became a Republic — backdated to apply to actions from 15 August 1947 onwards. So pre-Republic acts during the Jammu & Kashmir war of 1947-48 were covered retroactively.
COAS/CNS/CAS commendations: Each service chief (Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Naval Staff, Chief of Air Staff) issues their own commendations for distinguished acts that don't reach the gallantry-award threshold — these are separate from the national awards and do NOT appear in the investiture ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Exam-Style Q&A
Q1: India's highest gallantry award for bravery other than in the face of the enemy is — (A) Param Vir Chakra (B) Kirti Chakra (C) Ashoka Chakra (D) Vir Chakra → Answer: (C) Ashoka Chakra — peacetime equivalent of the PVC
Q2: The Rashtriya Rifles is primarily deployed for — (A) Maritime patrol in the Indian Ocean (B) Counter-insurgency operations in Jammu & Kashmir (C) Border guarding along the China frontier (D) Nuclear facility security → Answer: (B) — RR is the Army's dedicated CI force in J&K
Q3: A CRPF sub-inspector who displayed outstanding bravery in a counter-terrorism operation is eligible for — (A) Only state police gallantry awards (B) Shaurya Chakra or higher peacetime gallantry awards (C) Param Vir Chakra (D) Only MHA's internal commendations → Answer: (B) — CAPF personnel are eligible for the national peacetime gallantry award hierarchy
Q4: The Vir Chakra is — (A) India's highest wartime award (B) Third in the wartime gallantry hierarchy (C) Equivalent to the Kirti Chakra in peacetime (D) Awarded for distinguished long service → Answer: (B) — Vir Chakra is the third (after PVC and MVC) in the wartime series
What This Means for Your Interview
If you reach the SSB interview and they ask about the investiture ceremony, remember: - The President confers awards as Supreme Commander — this is constitutional, not ceremonial - Gallantry awards are for bravery, distinguished-service awards are for exceptional service — two different things - CAPF personnel's inclusion signals that national security is not only the armed forces' responsibility; MHA forces are on the front line too - Posthumous awards are equally honoured, and the welfare of awardees' families is a matter of state policy
Studying defence and security for NDA? Pair today's current affairs with Polity: Constitutional Bodies for the President-as-Supreme-Commander angle, and track the latest defence current affairs at NDA Current Affairs. For classroom support, explore Cavalier Defence Academy's upcoming courses.
Source: Ministry of Defence PIB release, 8 June 2026 (PRID 2270369). Static GK cross-verified.