Fact Check: Are Bharat Ratna awardees exempted from paying income tax?

Hyderabad: The Bharat Ratna is India’s highest civilian honour instituted in 1954. It is awarded in recognition of exceptional service or performance of the highest order in any field of human endeavour. As of now, 53 individuals have received this prestigious award.

A post on alleged benefits extended to Bharat Ratna awardees is making the rounds on social media. An Instagram user shared the post captioned, “These are the 5 main perks of winning the Bharat Ratan award because it is the highest civilian award.”

The post enlists benefits such as lifelong income tax exemption, free lifetime travel on Air India and in the first-class coach of Indian Railways, full facilities while travelling, participation in Parliamentary proceedings and Z-grade security.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claims are misleading because there is no provision for any tax exemption and monetary benefits as mentioned in the claim. However, Bharat Ratna awardees get lifetime free executive class travel on Air India.

We ran a keyword search and came across an RTI response from 2014 on the benefits extended to Bharat Ratna on the website of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

It does not specify any lifetime income tax exemption for awardees or state eligibility to partake in Parliamentary sessions, receive privileges akin to a Cabinet rank, or access Z-category security when required. Additionally, the response does not mention any benefits related to free or premium travel on Indian railways.

It categorically mentioned that no monetary benefits are given by the government of India to the recipient of the Bharat Ratna and Padam Vibushan Award. This is mentioned on their website along with other aspects of the award.

The benefits enlisted in the response are as follows:

1. The state governments are advised to declare Bharata Ratna awardees as state guests during their travel within India.

2. Indian missions abroad would provide proper facilitation as and when requested by the awardees on their visits abroad;

3. They are entitled to diplomatic passports and lifetime free executive class travel on Air India.

4. The guidelines in column 7A of the table of precedence.

We checked the website of the Ministry of Home Affairs and found that the Table of Precedence is a list of dignitaries arranged in order of their rank for ceremonial purposes. It provides guidelines for the order in which individuals should be seated or presented during state and official events. The Bharat Ratna Awardees are at 7A above chief ministers and governors outside their state.

Hence, we conclude that the claims are misleading.