Sushila Nayar
FounderFounder of Mahila Dakshata Samiti · Kasturba Health Society
Photo published by Mahila Dakshata Samiti
Sushila Nayar is the founder of Mahila Dakshata Samiti (1977)[1] and Kasturba Health Society (1964)[2], Indian non-profits working on women & children, human rights, education, healthcare and rural & agriculture from New Delhi.
Mahila Dakshata Samiti
Mahila Dakshata Samiti was founded in 1977 by Dr Sushila Nayar, Pramila Dandavate, Suman Krishan Kant and other leaders of the women's movement, and set up India's first family counselling centre the following year. From its Delhi head office and branches in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Odisha and beyond, it has campaigned for the Dowry Amendment Bill, anti-sati and domestic violence laws and 33% reservation for women, pioneered the family courts idea and consumer movement, and runs the Swadhar Greha short-stay home and legal aid cells for women in distress.
Kasturba Health Society
Registered on 11 September 1964 to manage the Kasturba Hospital that grew out of Mahatma Gandhi's Sevagram ashram dispensary, the Kasturba Health Society is the voluntary society behind India's first rural medical college — the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, founded in 1969 by Dr. Sushila Nayar, Gandhi's personal physician. In village Sevagram in Wardha district, the society runs a 660-bed teaching hospital serving the rural poor of Vidarbha and beyond, community-based medical education that immerses doctors in surrounding villages, and the Dr. Sushila Nayar School of Public Health — keeping Gandhian values at the heart of low-cost, high-quality rural healthcare.
Kasturba Health Society reports the following, on its own site:
- 823,903 outpatient visits handled in 2023
- 660-bed hospital with 45,710 inpatient admissions in 2023
- 4,916 babies delivered and 11,698 major operations performed in 2023
- Organisations
- 2
- Based in
- New Delhi
- Founded
- 1977, 1964
- Press
- 4
References
- [1] “by a group of enthusiastic and concerned women which included Dr. Sushila Nayar, Pramila Dandavate, Suman Krishan Kant, Mridula Sinha, Manju Mohan, Prem Ahluwalia, Indira Saxena and others, Mahila Dakshata Samiti spearheaded the women's movement in India.” — Mahila Dakshata Samiti. Source
- [2] “Poor healthcare system and her abound passion to serve mankind rowed Dr.Sushila Nayar towards the making of this iconic hospital.” — Kasturba Health Society. Source
We record a founder only where the organisation's own site or a published article says so, and cite it above. We don't publish personal details.
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