INDIA -- Samanya Seva Medal, 1965--

[Ed_Haynes]

As a successor to the 1947 General Service Medal -- and, confusingly, overlapping that award and to a degree apparently duplicating it -- the Samanya Seva Medal [General Service Medal] 1965 was established by No.35-Pres./75 of 8 May 1975, by the President of India (with effect from 26 January 1965). The description of the ribbon was modified by No.28-Pres./78 of 13 May 1978.

It is a circular 35-mm copper-nickel medal. The obverse shows the state emblem of the Ashokan lions and, to the left "Samanya Seva Medal" in Hindi and to the right ?SAMANYA SEVA MEDAL? in English. At the bottom, the date ?1965?. The medal is suspended by a straight-bar non-swiveling suspender to which the clasps are attached. The naming is usually impressed on the edge. Hindi naming is also encountered.

The reverse is simple, showing the Indian elephant badge, drawn from the design of the flag of the Indian president.

The ribbon is 32 mm, dark green with three, equally spaced, 3-mm stripes of red, dark blue, and light blue. As it has been so common and so widely produced, there is some variability of the precise shades of the colors in this ribbon. These color variations have no significance (as some have stated). Early awards were originally ordered to be worn on the IGS 1947 ribbon, but this silly order later got changed.

Clasps - almost all clasps have been issued in Hindi only, so this may pose problems to the collector.

1- Kutch?Kargil 1965 - For actions against Pakistani troops in western and northern India from April 1965 to January 1966 in two widely diverse environments: the salt flats of Kutch (in Gujarat State) or in the Kargil sector of the high Himalayas. Kutch: one day of service in battle between 9 April 1965 and 1 May 1965 or ten days of general services in Kutch between 9 April 1965 and 1 July 1965. These were border clashes preliminary to the full-scale 1965 Indo-Pakisnai War. (This bar is illustrated above.)

2- Nathula Chola - For service along the Sino-Indian border for one day of service in the border incidents at Nathula (11-16 September 1967) or Chola (1 October 1967).

3- Nagaland - Awarded for anti-insurgent service in Nagaland in north-eastern India from 8 May 1975 to date. Earlier service was recognized by the ?Naga Hills? bar to the General Service Medal, 1947.

4- Mizoram - Awarded for service in the Mizo areas of Assam or in ?Operation Orchid?, in anti-insurgency operations, from 8 May 1975 to date. Earlier service was recognized by the ?Mizo Hills? bar to the General Service Medal, 1947.

5- Tirap - Awarded for service in counter-insurgency operations in the Tirap district of Arunachal Pradesh after 1 June 1979.

6- Manipur - Awarded for service in counter-insurgency operations in Manipur with effect from 27 September 1980. This is the only bilingual (Hindi/English) bar to the medal.

While the qualifying periods for many of these clasps are still officially "open", the medal seems to have fallen out of official favor and seems to have gone moribund.

The Kutch?Kargil 1965 medal illustrated is named to "4439136 SEP. WARYAM SINGH, S. L. I."

Edited January 27, 2007 by Ed_Haynes

[Ed_Haynes]

2- Nathula Chola - see below

3- Nagaland - SS-30153 2-LT. PETER. GARH RIF.

4- Mizoram - 14295071 SIGMN JAGDISH KUMAR, SIGS.

5- Tirap - 4457844 Si. Jit Singh, Si. La. I. (named in Hindi)

6- Manipur - 13611482 HAV. R. SINGH, PARA R. (clasp badly bashed, sorry)

Let me know if you need/want close-ups on the clasps.

[Ed_Haynes]

The only Nathula-Chola I have (or have ever seen) is part of an eccentically mounted group (but still nice):

1233117 Havildar (RHM?) Sohan Lal, Artillery

1- Sangram Medal - 1233117 GNR SOHAN LAL ARTY

2- Samanya Seva Medal, "Nathula-Chola 1967" - 1233117 GNR SOHAN LAL ARTY - probably THE rarest GSM clasp, more uncommon than "Overseas Korea"?

3- Long Service and Good Conduct Medal - 1233117 HAV SOHAN LAL ARTY - while mounted blissfully out of order, it actually has the right ribbon

4- Sainya Seva Medal, "Jammu-Kashmir" - 1233117 GNR SOHAN LAL ARTY

5- 25th Independence - 1233117 GNR SOHAN LAL ARTY

6- 20 Year - 1233117 RHR [?] SOHAN LAL ARTY

7- 9 Year - 1233117 GNR SOHAN LAL ARTY

[Ed_Haynes]

A nice multi-clasp Samanya Seva (well, multi-clasp almost everything!). Perhaps one of the few these days to care enough to improvise attachments for the clasps.

One clasp missing. Qualified also for "Suraksha" on the Vishesh Seva.

One other medal not shown here.

Anonymity preferred by the recipient.

[Laurence Strong]

Nice one Ed. Looks like he is only missing one clasp to the Sainya Seva also, which one is missing?

[Ed_Haynes]

Nice one Ed. Looks like he is only missing one clasp to the Sainya Seva also, which one is missing?

The Andaman and Nicobar clasp. He was in the Air Force. It is an almost exclusively naval clasp (and was instituted late -- rather like the British Atlantic Star -- to answer demands that there was nothing for them to earn).

Have added coverage of the Sainya Seva Medal: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=14654.

Edited January 26, 2007 by Ed_Haynes