Padmagandha Pratishthan will honour, renowned philanthropist doctor couple, Dr Prakash and Dr Mandakini Amte with Nalini Balkrushna Deopujati Jeevan Gaurav Award for their impeccable services and their contribution towards tribal medical care and education.
The event will be held at Shree Shaktipeeth, Ram Nagar, at 5.30 pm on March 5. Eminent Opthalmologist, Dr Satish Sule along with noted Paediatrician, Dr Satish Deopujari and Editor of The Hitavada, Vijay Phanshikar will be prominently present at the event.
The event will be chaired by Former, Vice Chancellor of Kavi Kulguru Kalidas Sanksrit University, Dr Pankaj Chande. Pratishthan will also felicitate cultural reporters of dailies in the event.
The couple offer medical services among others at Hemalkasa, in Gadchiroli district about 400km from Nagpur. The entire Amte family now with their third generation is serving the Gond tribals in extreme adeverse conditions selflessly for years to-gether.
There is a 50-bed hospital, a high school and a junior college that caters to around 1,000 villages in the area, besides tribals of neighbouring Bastar of Chhattisgarh and East Godavari of Andhra Pradesh.
The region is known to be Naxalite-prone and the Amte couple was often accused by the police for treating injured Maoists in their hospital.
Dr. Prakash Amte and his wife Dr. Mandakini have an unusual way of living; they have set up a wild animal asylum in their courtyard. This couple has spent decades changing the lives of the local community in Hemalkasa, protecting tribal people and the local fauna alike.