Vir Chakra

"VrC" redirects here. For other uses, see VrC (disambiguation).

The Vir Chakra (pronunciation: ʋiːɾa tʃakɾa, lit. 'Wheel of Bravery') is an Indian wartime military bravery award presented for acts of gallantry on the battlefield, on land or in the air or at sea.^[3]

Vir Chakra
Vir Chakra and its ribbon, the third highest military decoration of India
Type	Medal
Awarded for	Acts of gallantry in the presence of the enemy, whether on land or at sea or in the air.
Country	Republic of India
Presented by	Republic of India
Eligibility	Military Personnel Only
Post-nominals	VrC
Status	Currently Awarded
First award	1947
Final award	2021
Total awarded posthumously	362
Total recipients	1335 (As of 2023)[1]
Precedence
Next (higher)	Ati Vishisht Seva Medal[2]
Equivalent	Shaurya Chakra[a][2]
Next (lower)	Yudh Seva Medal[2]

It is third in precedence in wartime gallantry awards and comes after the Param Vir Chakra and Maha Vir Chakra.^[4]

Origin

It was established by the President of India on 26 January 1950 (with effect from 15 August 1947). The statutes were amended on 12 January 1952 to readjust the order of wearing as new decorations were established.^[5]

It replaced the British Distinguished Service Cross (DSC), Military Cross (MC) and Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC). Award of the decoration carries with it the right to use Vr.C. as a postnominal abbreviation [note the care to distinguish this abbreviation from that for the Victoria Cross (V.C.)

Appearance

The medal is 1+3⁄8inch circular silver medal.^[6] A five pointed star, with the chakra in the centre, and, on this, the domed gilded state emblem. The decoration is named on the rim and suspended from a swiveling straight-bar suspender. The decoration is almost always named and dated on the edge. Around a plain centre, two legends are separated by lotus flowers; with Vir Chakra in Hindi above and in English below. The ribbon is 32 mm, half dark blue and half orange-saffron; dark blue 16 mm, saffron 16 mm.^[7]

The award carries with it a cash allowance and, in some cases, a lump sum cash award. This has been a rather controversial issue throughout the life of the decoration. From 1 February 1999, the central government set a monthly stipend of Rs. 850 for recipients of the award. In addition, many states have established individual pension rewards for the recipients of the decoration.

List of Vir Chakra recipients

A total of 1327 personnel received Vir Chakra. Some of the notable Vir Chakra awardees include:^[8]

Key

†	Indicates posthumous honour

Rank	Recipient	Service	Date
Lieutenant	TGN Pai	Indian Army	1950	1947 Indo-Pakistan War[9]
Jemadar	Kanikasami	Indian Army	1947	1947 Indo-Pakistan War[10]
Brigadier	Harbaksh Singh	Indian Army	1 May 1948	1948 Operation Polo[11]
Lieutenant Colonel	Girdhari Singh	Indian Army	26 February 1948	1947 Indo-Pakistan War[12][13]
Subedar Major and Honorary Captain	Bhim Chand	Indian Army	23 August 1948 and 27 December 1948 (2)	1947 Indo-Pakistan War[14][15]
Air Vice Marshal	Ranjan Dutt	Indian Air Force	26 Jan 1950	1947 Indo-Pakistan War[16]
Major	Tirath Singh Oberoi	Indian Army	26 Jan 1950	1947 Indo-Pakistan War[17]
Major General	Ashwani Kumar Diwan	Indian Army	18 Nov 1962	1962 Sino-Indian War
Wing Commander	Krishan Kant Saini	Indian Air Force	18 Nov 1962	1962 Operation Leg Horn[18]
Lieutenant General	Zorawar Chand Bakshi	Indian Army	05 Aug 1965	1965 Operation Ablaze[19]
Wing Commander	Trevor Keelor	Indian Air Force	03 Sep 1965	1965 Operation Riddle[20]
Flight Lieutenant	Virendera Singh Pathania	Indian Air Force	04 Sep 1965	1965 Operation Riddle[21][22]
Air Commodore	Alfred Tyrone Cooke	Indian Air Force	07 Sep 1965	1965 Operation Riddle[23]
Naib Subedar	Ganesh Datt	Indian Army	07 Sep 1965	1965 Indo-Pakistan War[24]
Wing Commander	Amar Jit Singh Sandhu	Indian Air Force	17 Sep 1965	1965 Indo-Pakistan War[25][26]
Lt Col (later Brig.)	Russi Hormusji Bajina	Indian Army	18 Sep 1965	1965 Operation Riddle
Air Marshal	Denzil Keelor	Indian Air Force	19 Sep 1965	1965 Operation Riddle[27]
Lieutenant General	Mohammad Ahmad Zaki	Indian Army	20 Sep 1965	1965 Operation Riddle[28]
Admiral	Laxminarayan Ramdas	Indian Navy	01 Dec 1971	1971 Operation Cactus Lily[29]
Brigadier	JK Tomar	Indian Army	03 Dec 1971	1971 Operation Cactus Lily[30]
Lieutenant Colonel	Satish Nambiar	Indian Army	11 Dec 1971	1971 Indo-Pakistan War[31]
Brigadier	P V Sahadevan	Indian Army	16 Dec 1971	1971 Indo-Pakistan War[32]
Lieutenant Colonel	Vikram Deuskar	Indian Army	16 Dec 1971	1971 Indo-Pakistan War[33]
Captain	Satish Chander Sehgal	Indian Army, 75 Medium Regiment	16 Dec 1971	1971 Battle of Basantar[34]
Air Commodore	Jasjit Singh	Indian Air Force	17 Dec 1971	1971 Indo-Pakistan War[35]
Havildar	Gurdev Singh Hans	Indian Army	17 Dec 1971	1971 Indo-Pakistan War[36]
Squadron Leader	Ramesh Chander Kohli	Indian Air Force	17 Dec 1971	1971 Indo-Pakistan War[37]
Admiral	Arun Prakash	Indian Navy	21 Dec 1971	1971 Indo-Pakistan War[38]
Wing Commander	Sukhdev Singh Dhillon	Indian Air Force	17 Dec 1971	1971 Indo-Pakistan War[39]
Squadron Leader	M A Ganapathy	Indian Air force	1972	1971 Battle of Boyra[40]
Group Captain	Donald ‘Don’ Lazarus	Indian Air force	1972	1971 Battle of Boyra[41][42]
Flight Lieutenant	Lawrence Frederic Pereira	Indian Air force	26 Jan 1972	1971 Indo-Pakistan War[43]
Naik	Naib Singh Gill	Indian Army, 6 Sikh Regiment	26 Jan 1972	1971 Indo-Pakistan War[44]
Lieutenant General	J.B.S. Yadava	Indian Army, 11 Gorkha Rifles	15 August 1972	1971 Indo-pakistan War[45]
Lieutenant General	Francis Tiburtius Dias	Indian Army	15 August 1972	1971 Indo-Pakistan War[46]
Major	Ngangom Joy Dutta Singh	Indian Army	26 Jan 1988	1987 Operation Pawan[47]
Major-General	Dalvir Singh	Indian Army	26 Jan 1988	1987 Jaffna University Helidrop[48]
Lieutenant Commander	Deepak Agarwal	Indian Navy	26 Jan 1988	1987 Operation Pawan[49]
Sepoy	Kamkholam Kuki	Indian Army, Assam Regiment	17 Dec 1989	1987 Operation Pawan[50]
Flight Lieutenant	Abdul Naseer Hanfee[51]	Indian Air Force, 128 Helicopter Unit	26 January 1989	1984 Operation Meghdoot[52]
Naik	Kaushal Yadav †	Indian Army,9 PARA (SF)	26 July 1999	1999 Operation Vijay[53]
Captain	Jintu Gogoi	Indian Army, 18 Garhwal Rifles	15 Aug 1999	1999 Operation Vijay[54]
Squadron Leader	Ajay Ahuja†	Indian Air Force	01 Jan 1999	1999 Operation Safed Sagar[55]
Colonel	Magod Basappa Ravindranath	Indian Army, 2 Rajputana Rifles	28 Jun 1999	1999 Battle of Tololing[56]
Lieutenant Colonel	Ramakrishnan Vishwanathan	Indian Army, 18 Grenadiers	Jun 1999	1999 Battle of Tololing[57]
L/Havildar	Ram Kumar	Indian Army, 18 Grenadiers	Jun 1999	1999 Battle of Tololing[58]
Major	Mariappan Saravanan	Indian Army, 1st Bihar Regiment	15 Aug 1999	1999 Operation Vijay[59]
Colonel	Lalit Rai	Indian Army, 1/11 GR	15 Aug 1999	1999 Operation Vijay[60]
Lieutenant Colonel	Yogesh Kumar Joshi	Indian Army, 13 JAK RIF	15 Aug 1999	1999 Operation Vijay[61]
Captain	Sanjeev Singh Jamwal	Indian Army, 13 JAK RIF	15 Aug 1999	1999 Operation Vijay[62]
Gunner	Sanjeev Gopala Pillai	Indian Army, 4 Medium Regiment	15 Aug 1999	1999 Operation Vijay[63]
Captain	Vijyant Thapar	Indian Army, 2 Rajputana Rifles	16 Dec 1999	1999 Operation Vijay[64]
L/Havildar	Chuni Lal	Indian Army, 8 JAK LI	30 Aug 2000	1999 Operation Vijay[65]
Wing Commander	Abhinandan Varthaman	Indian Air Force	15 Aug 2019	2019 India-Pakistan Standoff[66]
Naib Subedar	Nuduram Soren	Indian Army, 16th Bihar Regiment	26 Jan 2021	2020 Operation Snow Leopard[67]
Naik	Deepak Singh	Indian Army, 16th Bihar Regiment	26 Jan 2021	2020 Operation Snow Leopard[68]
Sepoy	Gurtej Singh	Indian Army, 3rd Punjab Regiment	26 Jan 2021	2020 Operation Snow Leopard[69]
Havildar	Mangal Singh sisodiya	Indian Army	4 April 1971	1971 Indo-Pakistan War[70]

Notes

1. Though the Shaurya Chakra is placed below the Vir Chakra in the precedence, it is considered as a peacetime equivalent of Vir Chakra.