Social worker Banoo Coyaji passes away

PUNE: Renowned social worker and winner of the prestigious Magsaysay award, Banoo Jehangir Coyaji passed away here on Thursday after prolonged illness. She was 86.

Coyaji who was ailing for quite some time was known for her unstinted work in the field of family planning and reproductive health. The end came at 2 am and her mortal remains were kept at the KEM hospital from 8 to 9.30 am to enable people to pay their respect. The Coyaji family stated that there would be no traditional final rites.

Born on August 22, 1918 as Banoo Pestonjee Kapadia she received one of the highest civilian award the Padma Bhushan from the union government in 1989 and later the prestigious Punya Bhushan in 1991 for her work in reproductive health. She also received the Ramon Magsaysay award for 1993 and the Rameshwardas Birla national award for 1992-93 which comprised a grant to enable her to continue her research in child care and family planning.

Coyaji was unique in many ways. She was the first girl to pass the matriculate exam from St Vincent''s - an all boys school. She simultaneously appeared for her senior Cambridge exam from the Convent of Jesus and Mary, went on to become a doctor and started working with her husband''s brother at his Coyaji dispensary. The Coyaji family still runs it.

In 1944 she started her career as a gynaecologist and obstetrician at Pune''s KEM hospital which she transferred from a single floor barrack-like 40 bed hospital into a modern 550 bed medical research institute and teaching hospital affiliated to the B J Medical college. She was its chief medical officer and the managing director. Being less than five ft tall, she used to perform surgeries while standing on a stool.

In 1972 Coyaji established a primary health centre at Vadu, a village 40 km away from Pune which has now grown into Shirdi Saibaba rural hospital that caters to many nearby villages. Based on its success she launched a community health care scheme in 1977 where she had a team of 600 local girls trained in nutrition, hygiene, sanitation and family planning. These girls visited rural areas offering training and medical relief. This model was later used in many developing countries and she always pushed for quality community health care at both national and international level.

Coyaji handled many important posts including consultant and advisor to the union government in matters of family planning and population control, member of Indian Council of Medical Research and senate member of the University of Pune. She also worked with World Health Organisation, World Bank, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller foundation and United Nations Family Planning Association.

Besides her passion for medicine and social causes, Coyaji was interested in literature, something she inherited from her father Pestonjee Kapadia who wrote under the pseudonym Hairat. She was associated with local Marathi daily Sakal and was its director for more than 30 years. She took special tuition in Marathi. She was conferred with honorary D Litt degrees by the University of Pune and SNDT University in 1994.