Rukhsana gets Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha medal

President Pratibha Patil has approved the award of Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak for Rukhsana Kosser, the Jammu girl who braved the bullets of Lashkar-e-Tayiba militants and killed one of them to save her family.

The other name approved by the President for the award is of Delhi's Narender Kaushik who will be given this medal posthumously for showing 'conspicuous courage in saving life under circumstances of very great danger to the life of the rescuer,' a home ministry spokesperson said in New Delhi on Friday.

Jeevan Raksha Padak series of awards are given to a person for meritorious act of humane nature in saving the life of a person. The award is given in three categories, namely, Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak, Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak, and Jeevan Raksha Padak, the home ministry spokesperson said here.

Besides a medal, the award carries lump sum monetary allowance which is given at the rate of Rs 75,000, Rs 45,000 and Rs 30,000 to the Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak, Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak and Jeevan Raksha Padak awardee respectively, he said.

22-year-old Rukhsana, along with her sibling, overpowered the LeT terrorist, snatched his rifle and fired at him, killing him on the spot and injuring another at Kalsian village, about 217 km from Jammu on the night of September 27 last year.

The name of Rukhsana, who is now a Jammu and Kashmir police officer, has been recommended by state Governor N N Vohra for the award.

Seven persons whose names have been approved by Patil for Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak include Syed Areef Sujauddin, from Andhra Pradesh, Umman Antony from Kerala, Rajan Kamble from Maharashtra, all posthumously, besides Mushtaq Ahmed and Ajaz Ahmed from Jammu and Kashmir, Karambir Singh Kang from Maharashtra and Prachi Santosh Sen from Madhya Pradesh.

The President has also approved names of 44 persons for Jeevan Raksha Padak, including Bali Ram and Layak Ram from Himachal Pradesh, Rukasana Banu from Karnataka, P P Sikhil, P Rajasekharan, Sreeja V V, Faseeb K, Thahir and Vijishna K R from Kerala.

Hemant Talim (posthumous), Boris Mario Do Rego (posthumous), Kaizad Noshir Kamdin (posthumous), Anil Dattatray Damankar, Miss Mallika Jagad, Philip Rodrigues, Purunanand Petwal, Sadanand Patil (posthumous), Sunil Kudyadi, Thomas Varghese (posthumous), Vijay Banja Rao (posthumous), Maharashtra have also been approved for the medal.

The President has also approved Silver Kharbani from Meghalaya, Lianchia, Joseph Vanlalhruaia from Mizoram, Gurdial Singh from Punjab, Zaheen Mateen (posthumous) from Rajasthan, Kumari Ranu (posthumous), Purshottam Kashyap from Uttar Pradesh, Subhash Chandra Meena from Delhi, G Raj Mohan from Tamil Nadu, Mohinder Singh (posthumous) from Punjab for the Jeevan Raksha Padak.

Narendra Prasad, (posthumous) from Delhi, Satender Singh from Haryana, Bhishma Singh Bargah, Kumari Saraswati Dewangan from Chhattisgarh, Kumari Manjusha A, Magesh A, Johnson V Sunny, Kumari Dinu K G, Vineeth Kumar M U, Kerala have been approved by the President for the medal.

Yumkhaibam Addison Singh from Manipur, Shahanshah from Uttar Pradesh, Hina Quereshi from Rajasthan, Vishal Suryaji Patil from Maharashtra and Medaplang Dkhar Meghalaya will also get the medal.