President’s medals for 59 police personnel of state

MUMBAI: Fifty nine state police personnel are amongst the 1,037 police, civil defence, fire brigade and correctional services personnel from across the country, whose names are in the list of personnel chosen for President’s Medal for Gallantry, Medals for Gallantry, President’s Medals for Distinguished Service and Police Medals for Meritorious Service. The list, that was released by the Union home ministry on Wednesday, includes 208 medals for gallantry alone.
From Maharashtra, 17 police personnel have been chosen for the gallantry awards, three officials for distinguished service, and 39 for meritorious service.
The three officers chosen for distinguished service from the state are Chiranjeev Prasad, a 1996-batch Indian Police Service officer, who is presently working as additional director general of police; Rajendra Dahale, who has served as additional commissioner of police in Pune; and Satish Govekar, who retired from the crime branch of Pune City police on June 30, 2024. Chiranjeev Prasad was also the Aurangabad police commissioner while Rajendra Dahale also worked for the Maharashtra Intelligence Academy (MIA).
Two officers whose names feature in the list of 39 chosen for meritorious service awards are Dattatray Shinde, deputy inspector general, who has worked in Mumbai and Thane; and Vijay Hatiskar, an assistant commissioner of police, who has also worked as senior police inspector at the Colaba police station in Mumbai.
President’s Medal for Gallantry (PMG) and Medal for Gallantry (GM) are awarded for ‘Rare Conspicuous Act of Gallantry’ and ‘Conspicuous Act of Gallantry’ respectively in saving life and property, or in preventing crime or arresting criminals, the risk incurred being estimated with due regard to the obligations and duties of the officer concerned.
President’s Medal for Distinguished Service (PSM) is awarded for special distinguished record in service and Medal for Meritorious Service (MSM) is awarded for valuable service characterised by resources and devotion to duty.