Kshama Metre

Kshama Metre
Born (1950-06-26)26 June 1950
Nagpur, Maharashtra, India
Occupation Social worker
Pediatrician
Known for Chinmaya Organization for Rural Development (CORD)
Parent(s) Waman Bapuji Metre
Shantabai Metre
Awards Padma Shri
Guardian International Development Achievement Award
Nina Sibal Award
Sadguru Ganananda Award
National Women Commission Award
The Week Women of the Year
Ojaswani Shikhar Sewa Alankaran Award

Kshama Metre, popularly known as Doctor Didi,[1] is an Indian social worker, pediatrician and the founder National Director of the Chinmaya Organization for Rural Development (CORD),[2] an organization serving the rural areas of India,[3] under the aegis of the Chinmaya Mission.[4] While holding the directorship of CORD India, she also serves as an adviser to CORD USA, the US wing of the Organization. A recipient of several awards including the Guardian International Development Achievement Award of 2012,[5] she was selected as the Woman of the Year by the The Week magazine, in 1993.[6] The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2008, for her contributions to society.[7]

Biography

All men consider their religion sacred and revere it. When all religions together endorse and validate the right to Paediatric Palliative Care of all eligible children, the impetus to the cause hitherto ignored to a large extent will be immense and will in due time bring about the desired structural changes in health policies and mandates of different counties nationally and internationally, says Kshama Metre.[8]

Sidhbari village, Himachal Pradesh

Kshama Metre was born on 26 June 1950 to renowned geologist, Wamanrao Bapuji Metre, and Shantabai Metre at Nagpur, in the western Indian state of Maharashtra but spent her early years in Assam.[9] Moving to Delhi, she did her schooling at The Frank Anthony Public School before graduating in medicine (MBBS) from Maulana Azad Medical College and secured her post graduate degree (MD) in pediatrics from the same institution. Later, she did her senior residency at Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital, Delhi and set up her practice in the city.[9] It was during this time, she met Chinmayananda Saraswati, a spiritual leader and educationist; the meeting is reported to have influenced her to abandon medical practice and join the Chinmaya Mission to assist in their work in the rural areas of the country.[10]

In 1985, she went to Sidhbari, a village in Himachal Pradesh, and set up six health centres for women and children and a community health training centre for nurses. The movement gathered momentum in due course and evolved into Chinmaya Organisation of Rural Development (CORD), with Metre becoming the founding National Director of the organization.[11] Under her leadership, CORD assisted in forming self-help groups (Mahila Mandals) in 564 villages in Kangra district and introduced microfinancing facilities through the groups.[5] After the integration of Chinmaya Mission rural activities under the umbrella of CORD in 2003,[12] the organization expanded its activities and is now reported to be serving in other states in India such as Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand.[13] Besides microfinancing initiatives, she also focused on social issues like HIV/AIDS, substance abuse and discriminative treatment of women[4] and her efforts are reported behind setting up of social forums where law and order issues could be settled without the interference of Police.[5]

Metre's activities have been supported by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) which extended finance for the microfinancing of the Mahila Mandals. The system initiated by her covers 1490 self-help groups, 75 children's groups, 220 men's groups and several girls' groups and is active in community health programmes, rehabilitation programmes for disabled people,[14] legal aid programmes, and livelihood support programmes.[5] Her efforts gained her a nomination to the now defunct Planning Commission of India in 2007 for a five-year term that lasted till 2012 where she was a member of the work group which focused on primary healthcare.[4] She has written several articles on rural healthcare and development; some of them getting accepted by Changemakers, a networking platform for social entrepreneurship.[15][16] Her group of volunteers have trained over 39,000 people, representing government and banking institutions, non government organizations and self-help group (SHG) members.[6]

Awards and honours

In 1993, The Week magazine selected Metre as the Woman of the Year.[17] The Ojaswani Shikhar Sewa Alankaran Award of the Times Group reached her in 2000, followed by the Women's Empowerment Award of the National Commission for Women in 2002.[18] Two years later, Prophets of India, a 2004 publication, listed her as one of the protagonists[4] ans she received the Sadguru Ganananda Award for social service in 2005.[9] She was awarded the Nina Sibal Award in 2006 by the All India Women’s Education Fund Association (AIWEFA) for her leadership of CORD and the organization's contribution towards Integrated Community Based Rehabilitation work for differently abled person.[18] The Government of India included her in the 2008 Republic Day honours list for the civilian award of the Padma Shri.[7] The Guardian, the British national daily, chose her for the International Achievement Award in 2012, for her exceptional work to alleviate poverty in the developing world.[19]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "In Conversation with Dr. Kshama Metre – One Day at CORD Dharamsala". Tarun Goel. 3 February 2012. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Dr. Kshama Metre wins prestigious award in London". Chinmaya Mission, UK. 19 December 2012. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  3. ↑ "CORD and Interview with Dr. Metre". Mount Madonna School. 13 April 2015. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Advisory Board". CORD USA. 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Guardian International Development Achievement Award winner 2012: Dr Kshama Metre". Guardian UK. 23 November 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  6. 1 2 "Dr. Kshama Metre on Bhau Institute of Innovation". Bhau Institute of Innovation. 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  7. 1 2 "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2016. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Kshama Metre on Religions World Charter". Religions World Charter. 2016. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  9. 1 2 3 "Our Inspirations". CORD USA. 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Dr. Kshama Metre Nominated for 2012 Guardian International Achievement Award". Indo American News. 27 September 2012. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Padam Shri awardee raps Parliamentary panel team". The Tribune. 14 December 2010. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Genesis". CORD. 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  13. ↑ ""Conception of Self-help Groups and Experiences of CORD", a Conversation with Dr. Kshama Metre". United Nations University. 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  14. ↑ "My body also has needs". The Hindu. 9 May 2015. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  15. ↑ Kshama Metre (January 2008). "Young Men at Risk: Transforming the Power of a Generation". Changemakers.
  16. ↑ Kshama Metre (March 2008). "Tapping Local Innovation: Unclogging the Water and Sanitation Crisis". Changemakers.
  17. ↑ "The self-help movement in rural India and CORD’s experience – Community activist". International Development Research Centre, Canada. 16 June 2011. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  18. 1 2 "Achievements of CORD". CORD. 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  19. ↑ "The Guardian Announces Development Award Winners". Women Deliver. 26 December 2012. Retrieved February 9, 2016.

External links

Further reading

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