Padma Awards 2022: Meet the doctors who won the prestigious award in the field of medicine

On the eve of the Republic Day 2022, the Ministry of Home Affairs declared the list of 128 people from various fields who will be conferred with the Padma Awards this year, including 2 duo cases. Padma Awards is one of the highest civilian awards of the country.

The Padma Awards are conferred in three categories - Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. Padma Vibhushan is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service while Padma Bhushan is for distinguished service of high order and Padma Shri for distinguished service in any field. 

This year's list comprises 4 Padma Vibhushan, 17 Padma Bhushan and 107 Padma Shri Awards. 34 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 10 persons from the category of Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI and 13 Posthumous awardees.

But what is particularly striking is that this year, amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, healthcare workers have got special recognition. 10 doctors have been named for the Padma awards for their services to the field of Medicine. 

The Padma Awards are conferred by the President of India at ceremonial functions which are held at Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March-April every year. Here we bring before you the profiles of five of such doctors who will be conferred with the Padma awards.

Dr Prokar Dasgupta, United Kingdom

Professor Prokar Dasgupta is a clinician-scientist whose career started over 30 years ago when he began studying the immunology of a parasitic disease called Leishmaniasis. Contributing to academic excellence, Professor Dasgupta pioneered robotic urological surgery at Guy's Hospital. In 2010 and 2018 he was named one of the top ten prostate cancer surgeons in the United Kingdom by the Daily Mail. 

Professor Dasgupta is also credited with describing an innovative technique of injecting Botulinum toxin (Botox) with a flexible telescope to target bladder nerves, a method which has been named after him and helped millions of patients worldwide.

Dr Himmatrao Bawaskar, Maharashtra

Dr Himmatrao Bawaskar, 71-year-old physician's path-breaking research on deaths caused by the sting of the red scorpion was appreciated by the medical fraternity worldwide. His work on 51 such cases was published in the Lancet in 1982.

Dr Bawaskar after completing his MBBS from Nagpur joined as a doctor in a state run primary health centre in Mahad tehsil of Raigad district and continued to work there for 40 years. He will be conferred with the Padma Bhushan award this year.

Dr Lata Desai, Gujarat

Dr Lata Desai, 80 has won Padma Shri in the field of Medicine this year. Dr Lata Desai and her husband Dr Anil founded the Society for Education, Welfare and Action-Rural (SEWA Rural) in 1980 in Jhagadia, Bharuch. The couple returned from the US to dedicate their lives to rural development.

She dedicated her entire life towards holistic, integrated well-being of tribal communities in Gujarat in the field of health, women empowerment, education and poverty alleviation since 1980.  

Dr Kamlakar Tripathi, Uttar Pradesh

For his contribution in the field of medicine, Dr Kamalakar Tripathi, a former professor in the Department of Medicine, BHU Institute of Medical Sciences, has been selected for the Padma Shri award. Dr Tripathi has also been the Head of Nephrology Department.

From 1998 to 2001, he was the Chairman of the Department of General Medicine. He has also served as the Dean in charge of the Institute. He was the President of the Indian Hypertension Society from 2008 to 2009. He was also the President of UP Diabetes Association from 2009 to 2011. He has received two international, 15 national awards.

Dr Sunkara Venkata Adinarayana Rao, Andhra Pradesh

Dr Sunkara Venkata Adinarayana Rao is a well-known doctor from Visakhapatnam. He was conferred with the Padma Shri Award for extending his services to thousands of polio victims. The 82-year-old orthopedic surgeon Adinarayana Rao is noted for his work for poor people. He won many awards in his six decades of service as a doctor.

Dr Rao got an MBBS degree in 1966 and a master's degree in Orthopaedic Surgery from Andhra Medical College in 1970. Presently, he is the managing trustee of Free Polio Surgical and Research Foundation. He won many national and international awards for his contribution.