No doctor from the national capital could qualify this year to the Padma awards, one of the highest civilian honours in the country. The Centre on Wednesday announced that nine unsung heroes of Indian healthcare system will be awarded with Padma awards - one with Padma Bhushan and eight others for Padma Shri awards.
Tehemton Udwadia, a Parsi Indian surgeon and gastroenterologist, considered by many as the father of laparoscopic surgery in India is the only doctor to be selected for Padma Bhushan. He is a general surgeon at two Mumbai hospitals, Breach Candy Hospital and Hinduja Hospital, and is the founder president of the Indian Association of Gastrointestinal Endo-Surgeons. In 2006 he was awarded Padma Shri for his contributions to Indian medicine and he received the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) from Queen Elizabeth II, the same year.
Chosen for their outstanding work in the field of medicine this year, the names for Padma Shri Awards announced include 51-year-old Dr Subroto Das from Gujarat, who had set up the Lifeline foundation after being involved in an accident and realizing the lack of adequate emergency services. So far, his foundation has helped more than 1,200 people get emergency medical care. The story of Dr Bhakti Yadav, who will be receiving the award this year is interesting. She is known as Doctor Dadi in villages of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and has delivered thousands of babies for free. Interestingly, the first woman to earn an MBBS degree in Indore, she quit her government hospital job and dedicated her life to treating poor patients.
Dr Suniti Solomon is the posthumous awardee this year from Tamil Nadu who had taken up the cause of AIDS research at the time when people hesitated to discuss about the problem because of the stigma attached to it. Dr Solomon diagnosed the first AIDS case in India in 1985 and established India's first AIDS Resource Group.
Other doctors whose contribution in the modern medicine has been recognised are Dr Mukut Minz, an eminent transplant surgeon and Director, Renal and Pancreas Transplant Surgery, Fortis Hospital Mohali. Dr Minz, formerly Professor and Head of Department of Renal Transplant Surgery at PGIMER, Chandigarh, joined PGIMER in 1980 and has over 30 years of experience in Transplant Surgery. Dr Madan Madhav Godbole of endocrinology department Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Dr Mohammed Abdul Waheed from Telangana, Dr Devendra Dayabhai Patel from Gujarat and Prof Harkishan Singh from Chandigarh. In previous years, several doctors from Delhi have been conferred Padma awards.
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