Panchgani, called Paachgani (in Marathi), is a hill station and municipal council in Satara district in Maharashtra, India. Panchgani attracts tourists throughout the year. It is also known for having many boarding schools.
Satya Paul Agarwal is an Indian neurosurgeon, academician, and public health administrator. He is the incumbent Secretary General of the Indian Red Cross Society. The Government of India honoured him in 2010, with the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award, for his services to the fields of medicine and public health.
Khushdeva Singh (1902–1985) was an Indian physician and social worker, known for his contributions towards the treatment of tuberculosis in India. Born in Patiala in the Indian state of Punjab, he served at the Hardinge Sanatorium, Dharampur in Himachal Pradesh for most of his service. He was the founder of the Lepers' Welfare Society, Patiala for the rehabilitation of leprosy patients of the region. Reports credit him as a humanist with a secular vision; he was known to have treated several Muslims during the Partition of India. He is the author of the books In Dedication and Love is Stronger Than Hate. In 1957, the Government of India honoured him with Padma Shri, the fourth-highest Indian civilian award, for his service to the nation. The Padma Shri Dr. Khushdeva Singh Hospital for Chest Diseases in Patiala is named after him.
Ram Kumar Caroli was an Indian cardiologist and a former head of the Department of Cardiology at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi. A Fellow of the Cardiology Society of India, he served as the personal physician to four presidents of India and as the cardiologist to Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri. He was honoured by the Government of India in 1969, with the award of Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award and the government followed it up with the third highest civilian award of Padma Bhushan in 1974.
Krishnaswami Srinivas Sanjivi (1903–1994) was an Indian medical doctor, Gandhian, social worker and the founder of Voluntary Health Services (VHS), a medical facility in Chennai reported to be serving the lower and middle-class people of the society. He was honoured by the Government of India in 1971 with Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award. Five years later, the government followed it up by awarding him the third highest civilian award of Padma Bhushan in 1976.
Dorothy Dunning Chacko was an American social worker, humanitarian and medical doctor, whose efforts were reported behind the establishment of a lepers' colony at Bethany village, in Ganaur, Sonepat district in the Indian state of Haryana. She was a Hall of Famer of the County of Delaware, Pennsylvania a recipient of the Take the Lead Honour from the Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania and the Smith College Medal. She was honoured by the Government of India in 1972 with Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award.
Mary Poonen Lukose was an Indian gynecologist, obstetrician and the first female Surgeon General in India. She was the founder of a Tuberculosis Sanatorium in Nagarcoil and the X-Ray and Radium Institute, Thiruvananthapuram, served as the head of the Health Department in the Princely State of Travancore and was the first woman legislator of the state. The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri in 1975.
Omeo Kumar Das, popularly addressed as Lok Nayak, was an Indian social worker, Gandhian, educationist, writer and a former minister at the Government of Assam. He held various ministerial portfolios such as Education, Labour and Food and Civil Supplies, during various periods, in the state of Assam. He translated The Story of My Experiments with Truth, the autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi, into Assamese language and contributed to the implementation of Tea Plantation Worker’s Provident Fund in the state. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 1963, for his contributions to society. India Post honoured Das by issuing a commemorative stamp on him on 15 May 1998.
Khushwant Lal Wig (1904–1986) was an Indian physician, medical academic, writer and the director of the All India Institute of Medical Science, New Delhi. He was a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London and a recipient of Dr. B. C. Roy Award, the highest Indian award in the medical category. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 1964, for his contributions to the Medical science.
Puliyur Krishnaswamy Duraiswami (1912–1974) was an Indian orthopedic surgeon, medical writer and the Director General of Health Services under the Government of India. Besides being a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and a founder Fellow of the National Academy of Medical Sciences, he published several articles on orthopedics and was a recipient of Robert Jones Medal and the Presidential Merit Award of the British Orthopaedic Association. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 1966, for his contributions to the Medical Science.
Mahesh Prasad Mehray (1900–1974) was an Indian ophthalmologist and the founder of Sitapur Eye Hospital, a 2500-bedded healthcare group with 32 branches across Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal. He was a recipient of Dr. B. C. Roy Award of the Medical Council of India, the highest Indian award in the medical category. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri in 1955 and followed it up with the third highest honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 1970, for his contributions to Medical science.
Mambalikalathil Sarada Menon was an Indian psychiatrist, social worker and the founder of Schizophrenia Research Foundation (SCARF), a Chennai-based non-governmental organization working for the rehabilitation of people afflicted with schizophrenia and other mental disorders. An Avvaiyyar Award recipient, she was a former Madras Medical Service officer and the first woman psychiatrist in India. The Government of India awarded her the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 1992, for her contributions to society.
Jal Minocher Mehta was a Parsi Indian surgeon, social worker and philanthropist, known for his services for the rehabilitation of people who have leprosy. He was the president of Pune District Leprosy Committee and was involved in organizing self help groups of the leprosy patients and in creating social awareness about the disease through documentaries. He chaired the Serum Institute of India (SIIL) and sat in the Advisory Boards of Pharmabiz, Chronicle Pharmabiz and the Vienna Karl Landsteiner Institute. His efforts towards the Leprosy eradication program included the management of a Leprosy Hospital and a Rehabilitation Centre in Pune. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 1982, for his contributions to medical science. He died on 13 October 2001, succumbing to a cerebral hemorrhage at Pune, survived by his wife, Mehru, a medical doctor and cancer surgeon; their only son, Minoo, had predeceased Jal Mehta, caught in an avalanche in the Himalayas earlier.
Indu Bhushan Sinha was an Indian nephrologist and medical academic from the Indian state of Bihar. He is a former professor and head of the department of nephrology at Patna Medical College and Hospital. He has served as the editor of The Patna Journal of Medicine of the Indian Medical Association (1986–89) and is a life member of the Indian Society of Nephrology. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2008, for his contributions to medical science.
Santosh Kumar Sen (1910–1979) was an Indian surgeon and the president of the Association of Surgeons of India. He was the first Indian surgeon to be elected to the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
Sudhansu Sobhan Maitra was an Indian physician and a faculty member of Willingdon Hospital. He was a graduate of Patna University and a World War II veteran for which he received a War Medal in 1944. The Government of India awarded him Padma Bhushan, the third highest Indian civilian award, in 1962. The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh elected him as a fellow in 1964.
Jal Ratanji Patel was an Indian physician, who attended to Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, during the years the latter was being treated for Tuberculosis. Patel, who was born into a Parsi family, kept Jinnah's disease a secret which had impact on the Partition of India. In his book Freedom at Midnight, Dominique Lapierre claimed that Patel had handed over a confidential file pertaining to Jinnah, and that Patel kept his patient's condition a secret on the patient's advice. The Government of India awarded Patel Padma Bhushan, the third highest Indian civilian award, in 1962.
Gulestan Rustom Billimoria was an Indian philanthropist, social worker, writer and painter, best known for her services for the special needs children of Mumbai. She served as the Sheriff of Mumbai in 1957 and was the lady superintendent of The Alexandra Girls’ English Institution, Mumbai from 1922 to 1937.
Gurukumar Bhalachandra Parulkar is an Indian cardiothoracic surgeon and a professor emeritus at King Edward Memorial Hospital and Seth Gordhandas Sunderdas Medical College. He also served as the president of the Association of Surgeons of India in 1984.
Jacob Cherian, popularly known as Ayya, was an Indian surgeon, educationist and a social worker. He was the founder of Christian Fellowship Community Health Centre Society, a non-governmental organization under which banner he established 24 primary health centres, besides 18 other institutions in the fields of health and education. Credited with the performance of over 25,000 surgeries, Cherian was a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Glasgow, International College of Surgeons as well as of the American College of Surgeons, and a founder fellow of the Association of Surgeons of India. The Government of India awarded him the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award, in 1999.
