President Pratibha Patil has approved the Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak for Jammu girl Rukhsana Kosser, who braved the bullets of militants and killed one of them to save her family.
Delhi boy Narender Kaushik will be honoured with the medal posthumously for showing “conspicuous courage in saving life under circumstances of very great danger to the life of the rescuer.”
Rukhsana (20), along with her sibling, overpowered a Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist, snatched his rifle and fired at him, killing him on the spot and injuring another in Kalsian village, about 217 km from Jammu, on the night of September 27 last year.
The name of Ms. Rukhsana, who is now a Jammu and Kashmir police officer, was recommended by Governor N.N. Vohra.
The seven whose names were approved for the Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak are: Syed Areef Sujauddin (Andhra Pradesh), Umman Antony (Kerala), Rajan Kamble (Maharashtra) — all posthumous —Mushtaq Ahmed and Ajaz Ahmed (Jammu and Kashmir), Karambir Singh Kang (Maharashtra) and Prachi Santosh Sen (Madhya Pradesh). The President also approved the names of 44 persons for the Jeevan Raksha Padak.
The medal, a certificate signed by the Home Minister, and a demand draft for a lump sum monetary allowance are presented to an awardee by the respective State government.
The monetary allowance 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 respectively, a Home Ministry statement said on Friday.
