New Delhi, January 25
Nonogenarian Bhakti Yadav, popularly known as “Doctor Dadi” from Indore, and captain of Indian cricket team of the blind Shekhar Naik are among the unsung heroes named for Padma Shri.
The focus this year, according to the officials in the Home Ministry, was recognising talent of unknown and unsung heroes of the country.
Yadav, 91, is the first woman from Indore to hold an MBBS degree. She has been treating patients free of cost for the past 68 years and has helped deliver thousands of babies.
Naik, 30, had led the country’s cricket team of blind to victory in the first T20 World Cup in 2012 and ODI World Cup in 2014. From a poor background, he faced extreme hardship, losing his parents at the age of 12.
Kerala’s “Granny with a sword”, Meenaakshi Amma, 76, began her martial art classes at the age of seven. She is the country’s oldest woman Kalaripayattu (Kerala martial art) exponent and has been practising and teaching martial arts for more than 68 years.
Chintakindi Mallesham from Telangana invented Laxmi ASU machine to reduce the time and menial labour required to weave Pochampalli silk sarees. His invention impacted 60 per cent of looms engaged in weaving. A school dropout, 44-year-old Mallesham had created the machine to relieve his mother’s pain.
Daripalli Ramaiah, 68, knows as Chetla Ramaiah or “The Tree Man” from Telangana, has dedicated his life to making India green by planting over one crore trees.
Dr Suniti Solomon, who diagnosed the first AIDS case in India in 1985, figures on the list posthumously. Gujarat’s “Anar Dada” or Genabhai Dargabhai Patel (52), a physically challenged farmer, has helped make his drought-hit village in Banaskantha district become the largest producer of pomegranate in the country. Anuradha Koirala, a 67-year Nepalese woman, was instrumental in rescuing and rehabilitating 12,000 sex trafficking victims. — PTI
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