Context:

India celebrated the 101st birth anniversary of Bharat Ratna recipient Shri Karpoori Thakur.

About Shri Karpoori Thakur

He was born on 24 January 1924 at Pitaunjhia (now Karpoori Gram) in the Darbhanga district of Bihar.

He was also famously known as ‘Jannayak’, a freedom fighter and a champion of the cause of farmers, women and disadvantaged sections of society.

He formed the Navyuvak Sangh in 1938 at the age of 14. 

He actively took part in the farmer's movement led by Swami Sahajanand Saraswati (second half of the 1930s) and then in the Quit India Movement (1942).

Thakur was elected provincial minister of the Socialist Party (Which was earlier a part of the Congress Socialist Party) and joined the Central Committee of Hind Kisan Panchayat.

• The Congress Socialist Party was formed in 1934 by Acharya Narendra Dev and Jayaprakash Narayan. This party later merged with the Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party.

He won the first election of Independent India in 1952 from the Socialist Party.

He became the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar in 1967 holding the Education and Finance Ministries.

Later in 1970, he became the 11th Chief Minister of Bihar. 

In 1978, the Thakur-led government implemented the recommendations of the Mungeri Lal Commission (1971-1977), introducing reservations for backward classes in government jobs and educational institutions in the State

Thakur recognized Urdu as the second official language and implemented the Antodaya Yojana for the first time to provide food grain through the public distribution system in the state.

He made primary education free and removed the mandatory requirement of passing the English exam to pass the matriculation (10th class) in the state.

He also launched a campaign called ‘Angrezi Hatao’, with the slogan ‘Angrezi mein kaam na hoga, phir se desh ghulam na hoga [There will be no work in English; the country won’t be enslaved again]’

Thakur was awarded Bharat Ratna posthumously in 2019.

Karpoori Thakur’s Policy

• He provided opportunities to those sections of society that were the most marginalised, invisible, and fragmented within the social structure.
• He championed the principles of social justice and advocated for equal rights for the marginalised, embodying the ideals of “Azadi and Roti” – i.e. freedom and sustenance for all.

Bharat Ratna Award

About:

• Highest civilian award of India. It was instituted in 1954.
• Recognizes exceptional service/performance of highest order.

Criteria:

• Initially was to recognise contributions in arts, literature, science, and public services.
• Expanded in 2011 to include any field of human endeavour.

Recipients:

• First awarded in 1954: C. Rajagopalachari, S. Radhakrishnan, and C. V. Raman.
• Includes non-citizens: Mother Teresa (1980), Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Nelson Mandela (1990).

Key Features:

• Not mandatory to be awarded annually; maximum of 3 awards/year.
• Recommendations are made by PM to the President.
• Recipients receive a Sanad (certificate) and medallion (no monetary grant).
• Cannot be used as a title under as per Article 18(1) of the constitution.