The Sainya Seva Medal is a medal of the

Indian Armed Forces The Indian Armed Forces are the armed forces, military forces of the India, Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force.—— Additionally, the Indian Ar ...

. The medal is awarded in recognition of non-operational service under conditions of hardship and severe climate in specified areas.

History

The Sainya Seva Medal was instituted on 26 January 1960 by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

, with the approval of 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 ...

. Five other medals were instituted on the same day - the Vishisht Seva Medal series (Class I, Class II, Class III), the Videsh Seva Medal, Sena Medal,

Nao Sena Medal Nau Sena Medal (also spelt ''Nao Sena Medal'', lit. ''Navy Medal'') is a gallantry award for servicemen in the Indian Navy. History The Nau Sena Medal was instituted on 26 January 1960 by the Government of India, with the approval of the Presid ...

and the

Vayu Sena Medal The Vayu Sena Medal () is a military decoration, usually awarded in peacetime for a job well done in the Indian Air Force. However, it has been granted during times of conflict for acts of gallantry in the face of enemy, though not in the same n ...

Criteria

The Sainya Seva Medal is awarded for an aggregate of one year non-operational service in a defined geographic area. These areas are considered to have hardship conditions and severe climates. The medal is always awarded with a clasp. An individual qualifying for the medal for the first time shall be awarded the medal, together with a clasp on which shall be inscribed the place where the service was rendered. Subsequent awards of the medal will only result in being awarded the clasp indicating the place where the service was rendered. The medal may be awarded to commissioned officers, junior commissioned officers, other ranks, and Non-Combatants (enrolled) of the regular Army. Auxiliary, Reserve Forces, Nursing Officers, and other members of Nursing Services or any other lawfully constituted Armed Forces (such as police forces and central armed police forces) may also be awarded the medal.

Clasps

The Sainya Seva Medal is awarded with the following clasps: ;Jammu and Kashmir Instituted 2 June 1960 and amended in 1967 and 1973, the clasp is awarded for an aggregate of one year of service in Jammu and Kashmir since 27 October 1947. Air force personnel may be eligible for award if they have carried out a minimum of ten sorties or forty hours of flying after 27 October 1947. Service used to qualify for the General Service Medal 1947 or for the Himalaya clasp will not be counted towards the Jammu and Kashmir clasp. The clasp bears inscription जम्मू कश्मीर separated by an image of a chinar leaf. ;NEFA Instituted 2 June 1960 and amended in 1966 and 1973, the clasp is awarded for an aggregate of one year of service in the

North-East Frontier Agency The North–East Frontier Agency (NEFA), originally known as the North-East Frontier Tracts (NEFT), was one of the political divisions in British India, and later the Republic of India until 20 January 1972, when it became the Union territory, U ...

(NEFA) employed in the construction of roads and airfields between 7 October 1952 and 15 November 1958. The clasp is also awarded to those personnel seconded to the Assam Rifles who complete an aggregate of one year of service in NEFA after 15 August 1947, and Air Force personnel who carried out a minimum of ten sorties or forty hours of flying after 7 October 1952. Service used to qualify for the Himalaya clasp will not be counted towards this clasp. The clasp bears a design like a horizontal stalk of bamboo with ने फ़ा engraved upon it. ;Himalaya Instituted 2 June 1960 and amended in 1964 and 1966, the clasp is awarded for an aggregate of one year of service in the defence of the northern in areas in the Himalayas. This roughly corresponds to portions of NEFA, and the Tibet borders of

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory and constitutes an eastern portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a Kashmir#Kashmir dispute, dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and India an ...

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

and

Sikkim Sikkim ( ; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the ...

. Air Force personnel must have carried out a minimum of ten sorties or forty hours of flying in areas and time periods specified to be eligible for award. The clasps bears the word हिमालय separated in the middle by a depiction of a pine tree. This clasp has not been awarded since 1986, with qualifying service now being recognized by the High Altitude Service Medal. ;Bengal-Assam Instituted 2 June 1960 and amended in 1967, the clasp is awarded for an aggregate of one year of service in specified areas of

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

and

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

after 26 October 1962. For flying personnel qualifying service is 10 sorties or 40 hours of flying over the specified areas of West Bengal and Assam after 26 October 1962. The clasp is plain with the words बंगाल and असम separated by a dash. ;Andaman and Nicobar Instituted 2 June 1960 and amended in 1967, the clasp is awarded for an aggregate of one year of service in the

Andaman and Nicobar Islands The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India comprising 572 islands, of which only 38 are inhabited. The islands are grouped into two main clusters: the northern Andaman Islands and the southern Nicobar Islands, separated by a ...

after 20 May 1966. Flying personnel may qualify by completing 50 hours of flying in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands after 20 May 1966. The clasp bears the inscription अण्डमान और निकोबार with

lotus flower ''Nelumbo nucifera'', also known as the pink lotus, sacred lotus, Indian lotus, or simply lotus, is one of two extant taxon, extant species of aquatic plant in the Family (biology), family Nelumbonaceae. It is sometimes colloquially called a ...

s on either side. ;Marusthal Instituted 20 July 1984, the clasp is awarded for an aggregate of one year of service in qualifying desert areas of

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

and

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

. Flying personnel may qualify by completing 10 sorties or 40 hours of flying over specified areas. The clasp is plain with the inscription मरुस्थल. ;6YR Sea Service Instituted in the year 2017, through Gazette notification by

, all personnel of

Indian Navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...

who have rendered cumulative 6 (six) years of sea service for anti-piracy operations, seaward defence, coastal patrolling, deployment etc. qualify for wearing Sainya Seva Medal. The clasp is plain with the inscription समुद्री सेवा.

Appearance

The Sainya Seva Medal is circular in shape, made of cupro-nickel, in diameter. The medal hangs from straight suspension bar, to which the clasps are mounted. The

obverse The obverse and reverse are the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ''obverse'' ...

depicts Nanda Devi with bamboo in the foreground. The reverse depicts one of the gates of Purana Qila. Above is inscribed the words Sainya Seva Medal in Hindi script. The ribbon of the medal is

saffron Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of '' Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent ...

in color . There is a single vertical stripe of white and another of dark green dividing which divides the ribbon equally in to three parts. It is one of the uncommon medals in the Indian Armed Forces where the flip side is wore at the front side.

References

{{reflist Military awards and decorations of India