Dr. Manohar Krishna Dole and Dr. Zahir Ishaq Kazi conferred with Padma Shri

Mumbai: The President of India yesterday handed over Padma Bhushan to Shri Ram Naik and Shri Dattatray Ambadas Mayaloo alias Rajdutt in the field of Public Affairs and Arts from Maharashtra at the Civil Investiture Ceremony in New Delhi.

The President also conferred Padma Shri on Dr. Manohar Krishna Dole (Medicine), Dr. Zahir Ishaq Kazi (Literature and Education) and Smt. Kalpana Morparia (Trade and Industry) during the Civil Investiture Ceremony.

Dr. Manohar Krishna Dole is an exemplary personality who has dedicated his life to providing free eye care services to underprivileged and tribal communities in rural India.

Born on November 22, 1928 to a middle-class family in Pune, Dole graduated with a degree in Ayurvedic medicine from the University of Pune in 1953. At the age of 31, he decided to move from the city to the underprivileged village of Narayangaon, 80 km away in the hilly and inaccessible Junnar tehsil, to address the lack of healthcare facilities in the region by setting up basic healthcare infrastructure.

Although not an eye surgeon himself, he realized that blindness caused by cataracts was the region’s biggest problem and founded the Mohan Thuse Eye Hospital and Research Institute there in 1982.

The hospital organizes 40 free eye check-up camps every month in the micro-interior areas of rural Maharashtra. It identifies and transports patients back in mobile eye care vans, provides all medical treatments including surgery, lens implants, pre- and post-operative checks and glasses, provides food, shelter and advice, and returns patients with restored vision to their own field of vision . houses, completely free.

The hospital has organized over 25,000 free home eye check-up camps in rural and inaccessible areas of Maharashtra. It has examined over 1.5 crore patients in rural Maharashtra and has provided completely free eye surgeries to over 1,75,000 tribals of SC and ST communities and the less privileged people living in remote and inaccessible parts of five districts in Western Maharashtra living.

In recognition of the efforts of Dr. Dole in this area, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and the Rockefeller Foundation, USA, have selected the project as one of 40 out of 6,000 institutes worldwide to develop research capabilities. In addition, the World Bank provided a grant of Rs. 14 lakhs. He also established the rural region’s first blood bank and eye bank. The hospital treats patients from primary health care centers in the region that do not perform cataract surgery. Special attention is paid to the treatment of female patients, because cataracts are more common in women. The project was one of the first involved in the National Program for the Control of Blindness (NPCB), established in 1976. Since 2000 it has run a successful two-year fellowship program in cataract surgery training, completed by more than 250 fellows.

Dr.’s hospital Dole was also a pioneering eye transplant institution and is home to the rural region’s first blood bank and eye bank. The eye bank is part of a chain of 100 eye banks across the country, run by Guruji Nettrapedhi, Nagpur. Dr. Dole, after relevant field research and in a well-planned manner, has established a system of eye check-up camps (even in remote and not easily accessible areas). This proved to be of great benefit to ordinary Indian citizens.

Dr. Dole has received several awards and accolades including D Litt 2014 Social work National Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth, Shivneri Bhushan Puraskar 2016, Social work State Government of Maharashtra Felicitation for most number of cataract operations 2008, Social work State Government of Maharashtra and Civilian Award 2006 Social work State Pune Municipal Corporation.

Dr. Zahir Ishaq Kazi (Padma Shri)

Dr. Zahir Ishaq Kazi is the president of Anjuman-I-Islam, the country’s largest minority education conglomerate founded in 1874. He is a prominent figure known for his exceptional contributions to education, literature and the medical world.

Dr. Born on January 26, 1954, Kazi obtained an MBBS degree from Goa Medical College (University of Mumbai) and later completed his postgraduate MD in Radiology and DMRD from Topiwalla Medical College and Nair Hospital, Mumbai. He has further honed his expertise through fellowship programs at FMRI – University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA, and MAIUM – Preceptor Ultrasound – Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, USA. He is associated with prestigious hospitals in Mumbai including Bombay Hospital and Hinduja Hospital. He also served as a radiologist at King Fahad Hospital in Madinah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, under the Ministry of Health.

Dr. Kazi’s transformative 30-year journey with Anjuman-I-Islam began in the General Council, which led to key roles such as Chairman of Tibbia Medical College and Hospital and a three-and-a-half year stint as Honorary Secretary General. During his tenure as President, Anjuman-I-Islam has experienced tremendous growth in various forms through expansion, consolidation and above all, excellence. During his tenure, new institutions were added, new courses were added in existing institutions and there was an increase in intake from existing institutions.

He was instrumental in motivating all institutions to obtain accreditation by the authorities. Through his vision, he transformed the two orphanages for women, one at Versova, Andheri, Mumbai and the second at Bund Garden, Pune, into an ‘A’ class home for women, in accordance with the Juvenile Justice Act. His initiatives to appoint more than 85% women as heads of institutions culminated in women empowerment in its truest form. As president for the past fifteen years, his visionary leadership has fueled the institute’s recognition as a national and international brand.

He ensured financial stability, streamlined processes, established overseas entities in the US and Britain (Overseas Friends of Anjuman – OFA) and forged collaborations with prestigious foreign universities such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the US and the University of Westminster. Britain.

Dr. Kazi has an illustrious track record and holds esteemed positions on various committees for the states of Maharashtra and Goa, as well as the Government of India. He chaired the National Oversight Committee on Minority Education and headed the Sub-Committee overseeing the Implementation of Minority Schemes for the Ministry of Education, Government of India.

He also makes significant contributions as a member of the Minority Education Development Committee for the Government of Maharashtra. He continues to make significant contributions to the educational and social landscape, as Chairman of the Shurparka Educational & Medical Trust in Mumbai, Chairman of the IDEAL Education Trust in Thane, and as a leading member of the Goa Vidhya Prasark Mandal in Goa. He was elected to the Senate of the University of Mumbai in the Management category.

Dr. Kazi has been awarded several national and international prizes for his distinction. He received the “Life Time Achievement Award” from the Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India, for his significant role in the field of Indian medical education system. Giants International awarded and honored him for his exemplary work in education in 2015. Aligarh Muslim University honored him with the Sir Syed Excellence National Award in 2020.