Uttarakhand Gaurav Samman

Uttarakhand Gaurav Samman
Highest civilian award of Uttarakhand
Awarded for	Awarded for contributions in any field of human endeavour
Sponsored by	Government of Uttarakhand
Location	Uttarakhand
Country	India
Presented by	Governor of Uttarakhand / Chief Minister of Uttarakhand
First award	2021
Final award	2024
Highlights
Total awarded	19
First winner	Narayan Datt Tiwari (Posthumous) Anil Prakash Joshi Ruskin Bond Bachendri Pal Narendra Singh Negi
Precedence
Next (higher)	Padma Shri
Equivalent	Uttarakhand Ratna
Next (lower)	Uttarakhand Lifetime Achievement Award

The Uttarakhand Gaurav Samman is one of the two highest civilian award of the State of Uttarakhand, along with Uttarakhand Ratna. It is awarded to a person for their extraordinary contribution in any field of human endeavour. It was constituted in the year 2021 by the Government of Uttarakhand. There have been a total of 8 recipients of this award. ^{[1] [2]}

Uttarakhand Gaurav Samman 2025

On the occasion of Uttarakhand State Foundation Day Silver Jubilee celebrations on November 7, 2025, the Government of Uttarakhand conferred Uttarakhand Gaurav Samman ^[3] upon several following renowned personalities for their contribution to the state's progress. Here is the complete list of the award recipients:

1. Padma Shri and Olympic Medallion Jaspal Rana (Shooter)
2. Entrepreneur, Chinese Actor & Social Worker Dev Raturi
3. Late Actor & Writer Tom Alter
4. Late Statehood Activist Sushila Baluni ^{[4] [5]}
5. Late Chipko Movement Leader Gaura Devi
6. Geologist Khadg Singh Valdiya
7. Warrior Teelu Rauteli
8. Writer Shailesh Matiyani

History

The Uttarakhand Gaurav Samman award was constituted by the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Pushkar Singh Dhami in 2021, on the occasion of 21st anniversary of Uttarakhand State Foundation Day which falls on 9 November each year. ^[6]

List of Uttarakhand Gaurav Samman recipients

Key

# Posthumous recipient

The recipients of Uttarakhand Gaurav Samman are as follows:

Year	Image	Laureates	Life span	Field / Work	Notes
2021		Bachendri Pal	born 1954	Adventure sport	Mountaineer, first Indian woman to ascent Mount Everest, recipient of Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri, Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award, Arjuna Award, and Yash Bharati.
		Anil Prakash Joshi	born 1955	Environmentalism	z
		Narayan Datt Tiwari #	1925–2018	Public affair	Veteran politician and former Chief Minister of Uttarakhand (2002–2007), Tiwari also served as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh thrice in the undivided Uttar Pradesh. He held union cabinet protfolios of finance, defence and external affairs in the Rajiv Gandhi ministry.
		Narendra Singh Negi	born 1949	Music	Uttarakhandi folk musician and singer, recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.
		Ruskin Bond	born 1934	Literature	Writer, recipient of Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri, Sahitya Akademi Award, and John Llewellyn Rhys Prize.
2022		Ajit Doval KC	born 1945	Intelligence and security	5th National Security Advisor, 18th Director of the Intelligence Bureau, recipient of President's Police Medal and Police Medal.
		General Bipin Rawat # PVSM UYSM AVSM YSM SM VSM ADC	1958–2021	Defence	1st Chief of Defence Staff, 57th Chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee, 27th Chief of the Army Staff, recipient of Padma Vibhushan.
		Girish Tiwari #	1945–2010	Music	Uttarakhandi folk musician and singer.
		Prasoon Joshi	born 1971	Cinema	Poet, writer, lyricist, 28th Chairman of Central Board of Film Certification, recipient of Padma Shri, National Film Awards, and Filmfare Awards
		Viren Dangwal #	1947–2015	Literature	Poet, recipient of Sahitya Akademi Award
2023		Basanti Bisht	born 1953	Music	Jagar singer, recipient of Padma Shri.
		Madhuri Barthwal	?		Uttarakhandi folk musician and singer, recipient of Padma Shri.
		Rajendra Singh Bisht	?	Environmentalism	Environmentalist.
		Sachidanand Bharti	born 1955		Environmentalist, recipient of Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar
2024		General Anil Chauhan PVSM UYSM AVSM SM VSM	born 1961	Defence	2nd Chief of Defence Staff, 58th Chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee.
		Hemant Pandey	born 1970	Cinema	Actor.
		Dr. Mahesh Kuriyal	?	Healthcare	Neurosurgeon.
		Mangala Devi	born 1956	Social service, Philanthropy	Spiritual leader associated with the Divine Light Mission. Known for her social and philanthropic work in the fields of health and education.
		Pritam Bhartwan	born 1970	Music	Jagar singer, recipient of Padma Shri.
2025		Jaspal Rana	born 1976	Sports	Gold Medalist, 25 m center fire pistol, Hiroshima Olympics 1994
		Dev Raturi	born 1976	Entrepreneurship	Entrrepreneur, actor, social activist, known for acting in Chinese films [7] , features in Chinese textbooks [8]
		Tom Alter	1950 – 2017	Acting	Recipient of Padma Shri, notable Indian actor, writer, theater artist, known for acting in
		Sushila Baluni	1939-2023	Social Work	Senior Uttarakhand state activist [9] and former chairperson of the Uttarakhand Women’s Commission
		Gaura Devi	1925-1991	Community Leadership	One of the faces of the Chipko Movement, grassroot activist and a rural women community leader
		Khadg Singh Valdiya	1937-2020	Geology	Indian geologist [10] and a former vice chancellor of Kumaon University
		Teelu Rauteli	1661-1681	Warrior	A Garhwali warrior and folk heroine, credited with fighting seven wars between the ages of fifteen and twenty
		Shailesh Matiyani	1931-2001	Literature	A Hindi writer, poet, essayist from Uttarakhand, known for his short stories

See also

• Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award of India
• Raj Ratna, the highest civilian award given by the individual princely states of British India

References

1. Sunil Negi. "Government announced Uttarakhand Gaurav Samman on the eve of state foundation day". M.jagran.com. Retrieved 2021-11-08.
2. "Uttarakhand Foundation Day 2021: Five Personalities Will Be Honored To Uttarakhand Gaurav Award - राज्य स्थापना दिवस 2021: उत्तराखंड गौरव पुरस्कार की घोषणा, प्रदेश की पांच विभूतियों को मिलेगा सम्मान - Amar Ujala Hindi News Live". Amarujala.com. 2021-10-31. Retrieved 2021-11-08.
3. "07-11-2025 : Governor Takes Salute at Ceremonial Parade During the State Foundation Day Silver Jubilee Celebrations. | LOK BHAVAN UTTARAKHAND | India". governoruk.gov.in. Retrieved 2025-12-21.
4. Post, Garhwal (2023-05-11). "Leading statehood agitation leader Sushila Balooni passes away at 84 | Garhwal Post" . Retrieved 2025-12-21.
5. "09-05-2023 : Governor has condoled the demise of senior Uttarakhand state activist and former chairperson of the Uttarakhand Women's Commission, Mrs. Sushila Baluni. | LOK BHAVAN UTTARAKHAND | India". governoruk.gov.in. Retrieved 2025-12-21.
6. "Uttarakhand DIPR on Facebook". Facebook . Archived from the original on 2022-04-30.^{[ user-generated source ]}
7. "Dev Raturi | Actor, Production Department, Location Management". IMDb. Retrieved 2025-12-21.
8. "Dev Raturi: Uttarakhand man movie star in China, features in textbook". The Times of India. 2023-07-26. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 2025-12-21.
9. "09-05-2023 : Governor has condoled the demise of senior Uttarakhand state activist and former chairperson of the Uttarakhand Women's Commission, Mrs. Sushila Baluni. | LOK BHAVAN UTTARAKHAND | India" . Retrieved 2025-12-21.
10. "Khadg Singh Valdiya – Asian Scientist Magazine". www.asianscientist.com. Retrieved 2025-12-21.