A total of 1,090 personnel from Police, Fire, Home Guard & Civil Defence, and Correctional Services have been honoured with Gallantry and Service Medals this year, the Ministry of Home Affairs announced on August 14, a day before the country’s 79th Independence Day. Of the total honourees, 22 recipients are from Odisha.
While two personnel have been awarded the President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service, nine have been honoured with the Police Medal for Gallantry, and eleven with the Police Medal for Meritorious Service, respectively.
Rabindra Kumar Panda, Additional Superintendent of Police, and Naresh Kumar Patel, Commandant, have been honoured with the prestigious President’s Medal for Distinguished Service (PSM).
Police Medal for Gallantry have been conferred upon Sub Inspector (SI) Amaresh Narendra and Constable Jitendra Kumar Nayak. Other recipients in this category are OAPF personnel Arjuna Mallick and Youdhishthira Mallik; Havildar Aswini Kumar Bagh; Commando Dumburudhar Bhoi, Nabin Kumar Sahu, Pradip Shrestha, and Abhimanyu Majhi.
Similarly, Assistant Inspector General (AIG) Maheshwar Sethi, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Pradeep Kumar Pradhan, ASP Debendra Narayan Das, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Ashish Kumar Raut, Inspector A Srinibas Dora, DSP Hemamalini Nayak, and Commandant Suryanarayan Mallick have been honoured with the Medal for Meritorious Service (MSM). Other awardees in this category include Inspector Santosh Kumar Mirdha, ASI Arun Kumar Samanta, Arabinda Das, and Constable Chinmayee Raut.
Of the 1,090 honourees across the country, 233 were presented with the prestigious Medal for Gallantry (GM), recognised for acts of exceptional courage in saving lives, protecting property, curbing crime, or apprehending offenders—even at great personal risk. This breakdown includes 226 from the Police Service, six from the Fire Service, and one from Home Guard & Civil Defence.
Significantly, these awards span challenging operational environments, with 54 recipients from Left-Wing Extremism affected zones, 152 from Jammu & Kashmir, three from the North-East, and 24 from other regions.
Service medals underscored dedicated service and distinguishable record. Ninety-nine personnel received the President’s Medal for Distinguished Service (PSM).
Of these, 89 belonged to the Police Service, five to the Fire Service, three to Civil Defence & Home Guard, and two to Correctional Services.
In recognition of sustained devotion and impactful contributions, the Medal for Meritorious Service (MSM) was awarded to 758 individuals—635 from Police Service, 51 from Fire Service, 41 from Civil Defence & Home Guard, and 31 from Correctional Services.
