Rashtrapati Awards used to be given by the

President of India The president of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, and the commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the Indian Armed ...

, in some cases the

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Union Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers, despite the president of ...

, for achievements in the field of sports, art, military, literature, cinema, culture, science and technology, or

Scouting Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

. The award-giving ceremony was conducted in the

Rashtrapati Bhavan The Rashtrapati Bhavan (, ISO: ''Rāṣṭrapati Bhavana''; ; formerly Viceroy's House (1931–1947) and Government House (1947–1950)) is the official residence of the President of the Republic of India at the western end of Rajpath, Rai ...

, the President's official residence. The awards were a part of the Indian honours system. However, after gradual systematic categorizations over a period, the awards were made independent to the field of achievement. For example, from 1968 onwards, the

Directorate of Film Festivals The Directorate of Film Festivals in India was an organisation that initiated and presented the International Film Festival of India, the National Film Awards and the Indian Panorama. Although the Directorate helped appoint members of the jury ...

completely took over its charge as the governing body for

National Film Awards The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India ...

India. Before 1968, the award in the field of best acting in

Indian Cinema The cinema of India, consisting of motion pictures made by the Indian film industry, has had a large effect on world cinema since the second half of the 20th century. Indian cinema is made up of various film industries, each focused on p ...

was given out as a Rashtrapati Award. Other examples are Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna for sports, National Bravery Award, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology,

Jnanpith Award The Jnanpith Award is the oldest and the highest Indian literary award presented annually by the Bharatiya Jnanpith to an author for their "outstanding contribution towards literature". Instituted in 1961, the award is bestowed only on Indian ...

for literature, "Maharishi Badrayan Vyas Samman" (a presidential honour for young scholars below age 40 who have worked to bridge the ancient and the modern especially using IT).{{clarify, date=December 2016

References

*https://web.archive.org/web/20100829092555/http://www.bsgindia.org/cir/rcir/2010rcir/2009awardeeslist2009.htm *https://web.archive.org/web/20110601023609/http://www.abhyaasindia.com/downloads/indian%20honors.doc

*http://pib.nic.in/archieve/others/2008/jul/r2008071002.pdf Indian awards