In India, which civilian honour is the second highest award given for exceptional and distinguished service in any field, including service by government servants?

Introduction / Context:
This question checks knowledge of Indian civilian honours, especially the correct order of prestige among major national awards. Civil services exam papers and many general knowledge tests frequently ask which award is highest, second highest, and so on. Understanding this hierarchy also helps to read news about award announcements correctly and to distinguish civilian honours from military gallantry awards.

Given Data / Assumptions:

- The focus is on civilian awards of India.
- The award is described as the second highest civilian honour.
- It is given for exceptional and distinguished service in any field, including service by government servants.
- Options include several well known Indian awards and one gallantry honour.

Concept / Approach:
India has a clear order among its main civilian awards. Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian award. Below it come the Padma awards in three grades: Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri. Padma Vibhushan is conferred for exceptional and distinguished service. Padma Bhushan is for distinguished service of a high order, and Padma Shri is for distinguished service in any field. To answer the question, we recall this exact order of precedence and identify which one is second in rank after Bharat Ratna.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Recall the hierarchy of Indian civilian awards: Bharat Ratna at the top, followed by Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri. Step 2: The question clearly asks for the second highest civilian award, so we must look for the award that comes immediately after Bharat Ratna. Step 3: From the known order, Padma Vibhushan is directly below Bharat Ratna and is given for exceptional and distinguished service in any field. Step 4: Confirm that the definition in the question matches this description, which further supports that Padma Vibhushan is the correct choice.

Verification / Alternative check:
We can verify by checking how awards are commonly introduced in official government notifications. Bharat Ratna is described as the highest civilian award of India. The next in order is Padma Vibhushan, which is explicitly mentioned as the second highest civilian award for exceptional and distinguished service. Many government documents list the awards in this order when announcing recipients on Republic Day. This double check confirms that Padma Vibhushan is the correct answer required by the question.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Padma Bhushan is an important award but it is the third highest civilian honour, not the second, and is for distinguished service of a high order.
Param Vir Chakra is a military gallantry award given for the highest degree of valour in the presence of the enemy, so it is not a civilian award at all.
Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian award, not the second highest, so it does not match the wording of the question.
Padma Shri is lower in rank than both Padma Vibhushan and Padma Bhushan and is therefore not the second highest civilian award.

Common Pitfalls:
A frequent mistake is to confuse the wording exceptional and distinguished service with distinguished service of a high order and therefore pick Padma Bhushan. Another common error is to overlook the phrase second highest and instead focus only on the description of service, which leads to confusion. Some students also mix up civilian awards with gallantry awards like Param Vir Chakra because both are national honours, but they belong to very different categories. Remembering the simple order Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri helps avoid these traps.

Final Answer:
The second highest civilian honour of India for exceptional and distinguished service is the Padma Vibhushan.