NEW DELHI, May 23: Husband-wife team Dr Ramchandra Godbole and Suneeta Godbole, who have devoted more than 30 years to improving healthcare and social welfare among tribal communities in Chhattisgarh’s remote Bastar region, will receive the prestigious Padma Shri award from President Droupadi Murmu on May 25.
The couple shifted to Bastar shortly after their marriage in 1990 and committed themselves to serving tribal populations living in isolated and Naxal-affected areas where access to medical facilities and social support was extremely limited.
Dr Ramchandra Godbole, a Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery graduate from Maharashtra’s Satara district, initially worked with tribal communities in Nashik through the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram before relocating to Bastar.
He later established a clinic in Barsur village of Dantewada district, close to the dense Abujhmad forest region, where thousands of tribal residents travelled through difficult terrain to receive treatment for serious illnesses.
Over the last 15 years, Dr Godbole has organised more than 100 healthcare camps in remote forest villages with the support of specialist doctors. These camps have provided medical examination and treatment to over 9,000 patients, while critically ill individuals were referred to hospitals in Dantewada and Raipur for advanced care.
Suneeta Godbole, who holds a postgraduate degree in social work from Pune, played a major role in strengthening community outreach initiatives among tribal women and children.
Fluent in tribal languages including Gondi and Halbi, she focused extensively on nutrition awareness, women’s empowerment, girls’ education and healthcare counselling in underdeveloped rural settlements.
Her initiatives aimed at combating malnutrition among tribal children have benefited hundreds of families across several villages in Bastar. She also conducted awareness drives related to nutrition, self-reliance and diseases such as sickle cell anaemia.
The couple’s long-standing contribution to social welfare and rural healthcare has previously earned them several recognitions, including the Seva Gaurav Award presented by Natu Pratishthan in Pune in 2001.
Their selection for the Padma Shri is being viewed as recognition of grassroots humanitarian work carried out in some of India’s most inaccessible and conflict-affected regions.