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= Dr. Ramachandra Krishnaswamy Naidu =

= = Rao Bahadur Dr. Ramachandra Krishnaswamy Naidu (1-July-1885 – 27-April-1952) was an Indian medical practitioner who served during the bubonic plague of 1896 in Pune area which was badly affected due to the pandemic. He later became an active member of Pune Municipal Corporation and contributed in building a strong infrastructure for disease control. The Dr. Naidu hospital in Pune which is the primary centre for treating infectious diseases is named in his honour.

He was awarded the title of Rao Bahadur in 1934, King George V Silver Jubilee Medal in 1935 and the King George VI Coronation Medal in 1937.

Early life and education
Born in a Telugu family, Ramachandra belonged to South India but the family had settled in Solapur in Maharashtra. Ramachandra lost his father quite early in life and had to see many hardships in his early stages. Even with these hardships, he managed to clear the university medical entrance exam but due to financial constraints, he had to give up on his education and take up a job as a compounder at Solapur’s Government hospital. His intellect got him into Pune’s B.J. Medical College for a course in hospital assistance and thereafter he served at Pune’s Sassoon Hospital as an assistant. With the money his mother raised from selling her jewellery and the financial aid from family and friends, he was able to enroll himself at Grant Medical College Mumbai for the LM&S degree course graduated in 1908 as an eye specialist. Naidu graduated with an LM&S degree from Grant Medical College in Mumbai in 1908 and worked as an ophthalmologist in Pune. He served in the plague relief camps organized by the Sassoon General Hospital during the 1920s. Today, Dr. Naidu hospital in Pune stands on the very land where hundreds and thousands of people were treated during the era of the dreadful epidemics.

Career
After his graduation in 1908, Ramachandra served as an ophthalmologist in Sassoon General Hospital.

The bubonic plague of 1896 that reached India via port city of Mumbai originated in Yunnan, China and travelled across to Hong Kong from where it arrived in India through trading routes. It came to Pune in October 1896 when two passengers from Mumbai arrived by a train. A medical team was appointed to identify travellers coming from Mumbai for any signs of plague and send them to institutional quarantine and isolation centres at the Sassoon General Hospital, Sangamwadi area. The British Plague Committee lead by Walter C. Rand, took stringent measures to identify afflicted persons; remove them to hospitals, observation and segregation camps, prevent plague victims from travelling; restrict burial or cremation of deceased to designated grounds.

During this time Naidu started serving in the camps organized around the hospital to treat people infected by the disease where he is known to have treated hundreds and thousands of people. He was also a member of the Pandemic Prevention Committee of the then Pune Sub-Municipal Corporation. For his service during the plague and his contributions for the welfare initiatives in Pune, he was honoured with the title of Rao Bahadur in 1934.

He was also awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal in 1935 and the King George VI Coronation Medal in 1937 for his persistent efforts to build the medical and health infrastructure in Pune. Ramachandra later served as an elected member in the Pune Municipality and under his leadership many projects for building Pune’s infrastructure were executed. He served as social reformist working for the welfare of women and the underprivileged.

Contributions to Pune city’s infrastructure planning and maintenance
1.     Planning and maintenance of the new drainage and sewage system - 1922 to 1926.

2.     Planning for disposal of industrial and domestic waste and renewal and maintenance of sewage system at Nagjhari Nala and Manik Nala – 1924 – 1932

3.     Building public toilets

4.     Abatement of pollution in the rivers and their conservation

Memberships and Positions Held
1.     Faculty of Ophthalmology - B.J. Medical School - 1915 to 1924

2.     General Ophthalmologist

3.     General Lymphatic Ophthalmologist

4.     Member - Mumbai University Senate - 1929 – 1941

5.     Member - Mumbai University Medical Committee - 1929 – 1941

6.     Chairman of Maharashtra and Karnataka Medical Council - 1944 (He had once worked as a compounder for the same organization)

7.     Chairman of Indian Medical Association, Poona entity - 1922 – 1946

8.     Member - Indian Medical Association, Calcutta - 1922 – 1946

9.     Medical Advisor – Commonwealth Insurance Company and Trust of India Insurance Company

10.  Member – Poona City Municipality - 1922 – 1931

11.  Chairman – Poona City Municipality - 1928, 1929, 1932

12.  Chairman -  Poona School Board - 1925 – 1928

13.  Member – Pune University Committee – 1946

14.  Founder and Fellow – Modern Educational Society and Wadia College

15.  Founder and Fellow – Raja Dhanrajgirji High School, Poona

16.  Chairman – Executive Board, Camp Educational Society – 1936 to 1952

17.  Fellow – Nathibai Thackersey Women’s University

18.  Fellow – Progressive Educational Society

19.  Fellow and member of Executive Board – Nashik Madhyavarti Lashkari Sikshan Sanstha

20.  Supporting member - South Indian Saraswati Vidyalaya, Poona

21.  Chairman, Rationing Advisory Committee, Poona

22.  Member – Committee for Prevention of Alcoholism, Poona

23.  Member – Pandemic Prevention Committee, Poona

24.  Chairman – Childcare Organization, Poona

25.  Member – Poona Depressed Class Mission Society

26.  Director - Commonwealth Insurance Company

27.  Supporting member - South Indian Cooperative Consumers Society

28.  Trustee – Lord Ray Industrial Museum, Pune

Personal life
Naidu was married to Kamala Naidu and had 7 children; 4 daughters - Sarojini, Susheela, Shalini and Shashikala, and 3 sons – Srinivas, Vinayak and Padmakar.