| S. No. | Name | Awarded Year | Notes / Field |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chakravarti Rajgopalachari | 1954 | Independence activist, last Governor-General for contribution in Public Affairs |
| 2 | Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman | 1954 | Physicist for contribution in Science & Engineering |
| 3 | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan | 1954 | Philosopher, India's First Vice President (1952-1962), India's Second President (1962-1967) for contribution in Public Affairs |
| 4 | Bhagwan Das | 1955 | Independence activist, author, Founder of Kashi Vidya Peethfor contribution in Literature & Education Service |
| 5 | Mokshagundam Vishweshwariah | 1955 | Civil engineer, Diwan of Mysore for contribution in the field of Civil Service |
| 6 | Jawaharlal Nehru | 1955 | Independence activist, author, India's first Prime Minister for contribution in the field of Public Affairs |
| 7 | Govind Ballabh Pant | 1957 | Independence activist, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, India's Home Minister for contribution in the field of Public Affairs |
| 8 | Dhondo Keshav Karve | 1958 | Educator, social reformerfor contribution in the field of Social Work |
| 9 | Bidhan Chandra Roy | 1961 | Physician, Chief Minister of West Bengalfor contribution in the field of Public Affairs |
| 10 | Purushottam Das Tandon | 1961 | Independence activist, educator for contribution in the Field of Public Affairs |
| 11 | Rajendra Prasad | 1962 | Independence activist, jurist, India's first Presidentfor contribution in the field of Public Affairs |
| 12 | Zakir Hussain | 1963 | Independence activist, Scholar, India's third President for contribution in the field of Public Affairs |
| 13 | Pandurang Vaman Kane | 1963 | Indologist and Sanskrit scholar for contribution in the field of Social Work |
| 14 | Lal Bahadur Shastri | 1966 | Posthumous, independence activist, India's second Prime Minister for contribution in the field of Public Affairs |
| 15 | Indira Gandhi | 1971 | India's Third Prime Minister for contribution in the field of Public Affairs |
| 16 | V. V. Giri | 1975 | Trade unionist and India's fourth President for contribution in the field of Public Affairs |
| 17 | K. Kamaraj | 1976 | Posthumous, independence activist, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu State for contribution in the field of Public Affairs |
| 18 | Mother Teresa | 1980 | Catholic nun, founder of the Missionaries of Charityfor contribution in the field of Social Work |
| 19 | Vinoba Bhave | 1983 | Posthumous, social reformer, independence activistfor contribution in the field of Social Work |
| 20 | Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan | 1987 | First non-citizen, independence activist for contribution in the field of Social Work (Pakistan) |
| 21 | M. G. Ramachandran | 1988 | Posthumous, film actor, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for contribution in the field of Public Affairs |
| 22 | B. R. Ambedkar | 1990 | Posthumous, Chief architect of the Indian Constitution, Crusader against Untouchablity, Dalit Icon, Social Reformer,Historian, politician, economist, and scholar for contribution in the field of Public Affairs |
| 23 | Nelson Mandela | 1990 | Second non-citizen and non-Indian recipient, Leader of the Anti-Apartheid movementfor his contribution in Public Affairs (South Africa) |
| 24 | Rajiv Gandhi | 1991 | Posthumous, India's Sixth Prime Minister for contribution in the field of Public Affairs |
| 25 | Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel | 1991 | Posthumous, independence activist, India's first Home Minister for contribution in the field of Public Affairs |
| 26 | Morarji Desai | 1991 | Independence activist, India's fourth Prime Minister for contribution in the field of Public Affairs |
| 27 | Abul Kalam Azad | 1992 | Posthumous, independence activist, first Minister of Education |
| 28 | J. R. D. Tata | 1992 | Industrialist and philanthropistfor his contribution in the field of Trade & Industry |
| 29 | Satyajit Ray | 1992 | Filmmakerfor his contribution in the field of Arts |
| 30 | A. P. J. Abdul Kalam | 1997 | Aeronautical Engineer, 11th President of India for his contribution in the field of Science and Engineering |
| 31 | Gulzarilal Nanda | 1997 | Independence activist, interim Prime Minister for contribution in the field of Public Affairs |
| 32 | Aruna Asaf Ali | 1997 | Posthumous, independence activist for contribution in the field of Public Affairs |
| 33 | M. S. Subbulakshmi | 1998 | Carnatic classical singerfor her contribution in the field of Arts |
| 34 | Chidambaram Subramaniam | 1998 | Independence activist, Minister of Agriculture for contribution in the field of Public Affairs |
| 35 | Loknayak Jayprakash Narayan | 1999 | Posthumous, independence activist and politician for contribution in the field of Public Affairs |
| 36 | Ravi Shankar | 1999 | Sitar playerfor his contribution in the field of Arts |
| 37 | Amartya Sen | 1999 | Economist for Literature & Education (United Kingdom) |
| 38 | Gopinath Bordoloi | 1999 | Posthumous, independence activist, Chief Minister of Assam for contribution in the field of Public Affairs |
| 39 | Lata Mangeshkar | 2001 | Playback singer |
| 40 | Bismillah Khan | 2001 | Hindustani classical shehnai playerfor contribution in the field of Arts |
| 41 | Bhimsen Joshi | 2008 | Hindustani classical singer |
| 42 | C. N. R. Rao | 2014 (Announced on 16.11.2013) | Scientist |
| 43 | Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar | (Announced on 16.11.2013) | Cricketer, Member of Parliament |
| 44 | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | (Announced on 24.12.2014) | First member of Sangh Parivar Became India's Prime Minister and First Non Congress PM to Serve a Full Term |
| 45 | Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya | 2014 (Announced on 24.12.14) | Posthumous,freedom fighter and educationist popularly known as 'Mahamana |
