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{{Short description|Indian medical doctor (born 1941)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Dr. Lata Desai
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1941|8|8|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Gujarat]]
| death_date =
| death_place =
| occupation = [[Medical doctor]]
| known_for = Dr. Lataben Anilbhai Desai
| spouse = Dr. Anil Desai
| awards = [[Padma Shri]] award in 2022
| children =
}}
'''Lata Desai''' (also known as Dr. Lataben Anilbhai Desai) (born 8 August 1941) is a [[medical doctor]] from the [[India|Indian]] State of [[Gujarat]] who is 1980 along with her husband Dr. Anil Desai and a few friends founded the [[SEWA Rural|Society for Education Welfare and Action]] - Rural (SEWA Rural), a voluntary organization devoted to health and development activities in the tribal area of South Gujarat.<ref>{{cite news |title=Gujarat: Padma Shri Dr. Lata Desai felicitated by IIPH-Gandhi |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/padma-shri-dr-lata-desai-felicitated-by-iiph-g/articleshow/89812579.cms |access-date=26 February 2022 |agency=TNN |publisher=Times of India |date=25 February 2022}}</ref>

==Education and career==
After completing basic medical education at B J Medical College, [[Gandhinagar]], Gujarat in the early '60s and getting married 1n 1968, Lata Desai and her husband moved to the US in 1972 for higher studies. In the US, Lata Desai specialized in [[pediatrics]] and Anil Desai in [[surgery]]. After completing their studies they started their careers in the US. However, after a few years, inspired by the lives and works of [[Mahatma Gandhi]] and [[Swami Vivekananda]], they along with a few friends returned to India and established the non-profit SEWA Rural in [[Jhagadia]], [[Bharuch]] district, Gujarat.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Moneylife Digital Team |title=Tribals Benefit from Scientific Approach and Spiritual Outlook |url=https://www.moneylife.in/article/tribals-benefit-from-scientific-approach-and-spiritual-outlook/49079.html |website=Moneylife |access-date=26 February 2022}}</ref>

The services rendered by SEWA Rural include:<ref>{{cite web |title=What we do |url=https://sewarural.org/what-we-do/ |website=SEWA Rural |access-date=26 February 2022}}</ref>
*Kasturba Hospital which offers round the clock emergency services, special care for women and children and people with eye diseases, separate clinics for Tuberculosis, Diabetes, and Infertility and Sickle Cell Disease
*Sharda Mahila Vikas Society was established in 2002 working towards the development of women, youth and children in villages of tribal, areas of Jhagadia, Gujarat
*Training Centre for Community Health
*Vocational Training Centre for Women
*Adolescent Awareness Programme which is aimed at reducing anemia, improving [[menstrual hygiene management]], creating [[reproductive health awareness]]
*Community Health Project
*Comprehensive Eye Care Project
*Vivekananda Gramin Tekniki Kendra which is a vocational training center started in 1987

==Recognition: Padma Shri==

*In the year 2022, Govt of India conferred the [[Padma Shri]] award, the third highest award in the Padma series of awards, on Lata Desai for her distinguished service in the field of medicine.<ref name="PadmaShri2022">{{cite web |title=Padma Awards 2022 |url=https://www.padmaawards.gov.in/padmaawardees2022.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125143803/https://www.padmaawards.gov.in/padmaawardees2022.pdf |archive-date=2022-01-25 |url-status=live|website=Padma Awards |publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt of India |access-date=11 February 2022}}</ref> The award is in recognition of her service as a "Doctor and Social Worker providing health services to tribal communities in Gujarat for over five decades".<ref name="PadmaShri2022Images">{{cite web |title=Padma Awards 2022 |url=https://www.padmaawards.gov.in/AwardeeTickets2022.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220129172910/https://www.padmaawards.gov.in/AwardeeTickets2022.aspx |archive-date=2022-01-29 |url-status=live|website=Padma Awards |publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt of India |access-date=11 February 2022}}</ref>

==Additional reading==
*{{cite journal |last1=Shanoo Bijlani |title=The Good Doctors of Jhagadia |journal=Reader's Digest |date=September 1990 |pages=125–132 |url=https://sewarural.org/sewa/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Readers-Digest.pdf |access-date=26 February 2022}}
*{{cite web |title=SEWA Rural – Exemplary of rural health delivery system |url=https://icaonline.org/sewa-rural-good-example-of-rural-health-delivery-system/ |website=Indians for Collective Action |access-date=26 February 2022 |archive-date=26 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226014532/https://icaonline.org/sewa-rural-good-example-of-rural-health-delivery-system/ |url-status=dead }}

==See also==
*[[List of Padma Shri award recipients (2020–2029)]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://sewarural.org/ SEWA Rural]
* [https://shardamahilavikas.org Sharada Mahila Vikas Society]

{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Medicine}}

[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in medicine]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian medical doctors]]
[[Category:Medical doctors from Gujarat]]

Lata Desai - Revision history

Rudra2020: new post