Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award (English: Rajiv Gandhi National Communal Harmony Award) is an India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n award given for outstanding contribution towards promotion of communal harmony, national integration and peace. The award was instituted by All India Congress Committee

All India Congress Committee

The All India Congress Committee is the Presidium or central decision-making assembly of the Indian National Congress Party. It is composed of members elected from State-level Pradesh Congress Committees and can have as many as a thousand members...

 of the Indian National Congress Party (INC), in 1992 to commemorate the lasting contribution made by the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi

Rajiv Gandhi

Rajiv Ratna Gandhi was the sixth Prime Minister of India . He took office after his mother's assassination on 31 October 1984; he himself was assassinated on 21 May 1991. He became the youngest Prime Minister of India when he took office at the age of 40.Rajiv Gandhi was the elder son of Indira...

, carries a citation and a cash award of Rs. five lakhs. It is given on August 20, the birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi, which is celebrated as Sadbhavna Diwas (Harmony Day).

Recipients

Former recipients of the award include Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa , born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu , was a Roman Catholic nun of Albanian ethnicity and Indian citizenship, who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India, in 1950...

, Shenai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan, Grameen Bank founder Mohammad Yunus

Mohammad Yunus

Mohammad Yunus was a close associate and advisor to Indira Gandhi. As a member of the foreign service he served as India’s ambassador to Turkey, Indonesia, Iraq and Spain.He promoted Trade between India and the rest of the world through regular Trade Fairs and the establishment of the Pragati...

 of Bangladesh, Hiteswar Saikia (former Assam Chief Minister) and Subhadra Joshi (jointly), Lata Mangeshkar

Lata Mangeshkar

Lata Mangeshkar is a singer from India. She is one of the best-known and most respected playback singers in India. Mangeshkar's career started in 1942 and has spanned over six and a half decades. She has recorded songs for over a thousand Hindi films and has sung songs in over thirty-six regional...

, Sunil Dutt

Sunil Dutt

Sunil Dutt , born Sunil Balraj Dutt, was an Indian Hindi movie actor , producer, director and politician. He was the cabinet minister for Youth Affairs and Sports in the Manmohan Singh government...

, Jagan Nath Kaul, Dilip Kumar

Dilip Kumar

Dilip Kumar , is an Indian actor and a former Member of Parliament.He lives in Pali Hill, Bandra in Mumbai, India. He is commonly known as "Tragedy King",and is described as "the ultimate method actor" by Satyajit Ray....

 and author Kapila Vatsyayan

Kapila Vatsyayan

Kapila Vatsyayan is a leading Indian scholar of classical Indian dance and Indian art and architecture.Vatsyayan received her M.A. from the University of Michigan and Ph.D. from the Banaras Hindu University. She is the author of many books including The Square and the Circle of Indian Arts,...

, Wahiuddin Khan(Islamic scholar), Kiran Seth

Kiran Seth

Kiran Seth is an Indian academic, who is Associate professor in the department of Mechanical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, and is most known as the founder of SPIC MACAY , a non-profit organization which promotes Indian classical music, Indian classical dance, and other...

(founder of SPIC MACAY

SPIC MACAY

The Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music And Culture Amongst Youth, often known by its initials , is not just a non-profit organization which promotes Indian classical music, Indian classical dance, and other aspects of Indian culture, it is a movement with chapters in over 300 towns...

) (2011). Other recipients are civil society activists Teesta Setalvad

Teesta Setalvad

Teesta Setalvad is a journalist and educationist. She is granddaughter of India's first Attorney General M. C. Setalvad-Personal life:She graduated with a degree in Philosophy from Bombay University in 1983 and started work as a journalist. She reported for the Mumbai editions of The Daily and The...

 and Harsh Mander

Harsh Mander

Harsh Mander is an Indian social activist and writer. He came into prominence after 2002 Gujarat riots and heads "Aman Biradari" which work for communal harmony. He became member of National Advisory Council of the UPA government in 2010 and special commissioner to the Supreme Court...

 (jointly), S N Subbarao, Swami Agnivesh

Swami Agnivesh

Agnivesh is an Indian social worker, self-proclaimed Arya Samaj scholar, and a Hindu social activist. He is best known for his work against bonded labour through the Bonded Labour Liberation Front, which he founded in 1981...

 and Madari Moideen (jointly), former President K R Narayanan, Nirmala Deshpande

Nirmala Deshpande

Nirmala Deshpande was a noted Indian social activist who had embraced Gandhian philosophy...

, Hem Dutta (2007), N Radhakrishnan and Gautam Bhai.

Year	Recipients	Notes
1996	Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar is a singer from India. She is one of the best-known and most respected playback singers in India. Mangeshkar's career started in 1942 and has spanned over six and a half decades. She has recorded songs for over a thousand Hindi films and has sung songs in over thirty-six regional...	singer
1998	Sunil Dutt Sunil Dutt Sunil Dutt , born Sunil Balraj Dutt, was an Indian Hindi movie actor , producer, director and politician. He was the cabinet minister for Youth Affairs and Sports in the Manmohan Singh government...	Peace activist, politician
2000	Kapila Vatsyayan Kapila Vatsyayan Kapila Vatsyayan is a leading Indian scholar of classical Indian dance and Indian art and architecture.Vatsyayan received her M.A. from the University of Michigan and Ph.D. from the Banaras Hindu University. She is the author of many books including The Square and the Circle of Indian Arts,...	Scholar
2003	S. N. Subba Rao	Peace activist
2004	Swami Agnivesh Swami Agnivesh Agnivesh is an Indian social worker, self-proclaimed Arya Samaj scholar, and a Hindu social activist. He is best known for his work against bonded labour through the Bonded Labour Liberation Front, which he founded in 1981...	Social activist
2005	Nirmala Deshpande Nirmala Deshpande Nirmala Deshpande was a noted Indian social activist who had embraced Gandhian philosophy...	Social activist
2006	Hem Dutta	Social activist
2007	N Radhakrishnan	Social activist
2008	Gautam Bhai	social activist
2009	Wahiduddin Khan	Islamic scholar, peace activist
2011	SPIC MACAY SPIC MACAY The Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music And Culture Amongst Youth, often known by its initials , is not just a non-profit organization which promotes Indian classical music, Indian classical dance, and other aspects of Indian culture, it is a movement with chapters in over 300 towns...	Promotes Indian classical music and culture among the youth

External links

• Official All India Congress Committee website
• Official Indian National Congress website