>JJMC89 bot III: Merging :Category:Indian male social workers to :Category:Social workers per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2021 July 3#Category:Male social workers

2021-07-31T18:19:16Z

Merging Category:Indian male social workers to Category:Social workers per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2021 July 3#Category:Male social workers

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{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Niranjan Pranshankar Pandya
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth-date and age|4 August 1945}}
| birth_place = [[Poona]], [[Bombay Presidency]], India
| restingplace =
| restingplacecoordinates =
| othername =
| occupation = Social worker
| yearsactive = since 1966
| spouse =
| domesticpartner =
| children =
| parents =
| website = {{URL||Official web site}}
| awards = [[Padma Shri]]<br>''Rishitulya Vyaktimatva Award''<br>Rustom Alpaiwalla Memorial Award<br>[[Government of Maharashtra|Maharashtra State]] Award<br>Sankara Eye Centre Award
}}

'''Niranjan Pranshankar Pandya''' is an Indian blind social worker<ref name="PBMA">{{cite web | url=http://www.pbmaindia.org/people.htm | title=Poona Blind Mens Association | publisher=Poona Blind Mens Association | date=2014 | access-date=8 December 2014}}</ref> and the secretary of ''Poona Blind Mens' Association'', a [[non governmental organization]] working for the cause of visually impaired people of Pune and neighbouring areas.<ref name="Karmayog">{{cite web | url=http://www.karmayog.org/nonmumbaiprofiles/nonmumprodis.asp?r=149&nonnpoproid=91&state=Maharashtra&city=Pune | title=Karmayog | publisher=Karmayog | date=2014 | access-date=8 December 2014}}</ref> He was honored by the [[Government of India]], in 2012, with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of [[Padma Shri]].<ref name="Padma Shri">{{cite web | url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf | title=Padma Shri | publisher=Padma Shri | date=2014 | access-date=11 November 2014}}</ref><ref name="Google Groups">{{cite web | url=https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rid3131cops-13-14/7LjezRwtrgM | title=Google Groups | publisher=Google Groups | date=2014 | access-date=8 December 2014}}</ref>

==Biography==
Niranjan Pranshankar Pandya was born in [[Poona]], in the [[Bombay Presidency]], on 4 January 1945.<ref name="PBMA" /> While he was doing his graduate studies, an accident at the cricket ground caused him to lose his vision at the age of 17.<ref name="Pune Mirror">{{cite web | url=http://www.punemirror.in/others/leisure/Brand-Pune-goes-grand/articleshow/31911466.cms | title=Pune Mirror | publisher=Pune Mirror | date=2012 | access-date=8 December 2014}}</ref> However, he continued his studies to graduate in Sociology. Thereafter, he joined '''Poona Blind Men's Association''' (PBMA), a Poona-based [[Non governmental organizations|NGO]], founded by Tukaram Sahadev Bamankar, working for the welfare of the visually impaired people.<ref name="PBMA Home">{{cite web | url=http://www.pbmaindia.org/ | title=PBMA Home | publisher=PBMA | date=2014 | access-date=8 December 2014}}</ref> Pandya became its secretary in 1966<ref name="Pune Mirror" /> and chief executive secretary in 1971.<ref name="PBMA" />

Niranjan Pandya got PBMA affiliated to the [[World Blind Union]] (WBU)<ref name="WBU">{{cite web | url=http://www.worldblindunion.org/English/about-wbu/membership/Pages/Associate-Members.aspx | title=WBU | publisher=WBU | date=2014 | access-date=8 December 2014}}</ref> and this association gave him an opportunity to visit [[Germany]], the [[Netherlands]] and [[Switzerland]] to learn the rehabilitation work first hand.<ref name="Pune Mirror" /> The same year, PBMA started a technical training institute for the blind people.<ref name="PBMA" /> In 1980, the British Council<ref name="British Council">{{cite web | url=http://www.britishcouncil.in/ | title=British Council | publisher=British Council | date=2014 | access-date=8 December 2014}}</ref> invited Pandya to visit the various institutions for the blind operating in the UK.<ref name="Pune Mirror" /> The next year, he visited the United States on a fundraising mission for the ''Shirdi Sai Baba Home for the Aged Blind Women'', run by PBMA.<ref name="Pune Mirror" /> In 1984, he visited the Soviet Union to study the blind welfare work there and, on his return, started a ''Talking Book Library'' at PBMA in 1986.<ref name="PBMA" /><ref name="Pune Mirror" />

In 1999, after presenting a paper at a conference in [[New Delhi]] conducted by the All India Confederation of Opththalmologists, Pandya visited the US a second time to attend the ''Vision 99'' conference in New York, on the sidelines of which he raised funds for an eye hospital. The project, conceptualized by Pandya and costed approximately US$2 million, was completed the next year when H. V. Desai Eye Hospital<ref name="HVDEH">{{cite web | url=http://hvdesaieyehospital.org/ | title=HVDEH | publisher=HVDEH | date=2014 | access-date=8 December 2014}}</ref> was opened to public in January 2000.<ref name="PBMA" /> The hospital is known to provide free of cost surgeries to poor people, constituting 60 percent of the total surgeries performed there. Since inception, the hospital is reported to have performed 367,000 surgeries and attended to 2.293 million out-patients<ref name="HVDEH" /> and is known to be the largest eye hospital in Western India.<ref name="Pune Mirror" />

Niranjan Pandya has delivered lectures at various national and international conferences as well as on the [[All India Radio]], besides writing articles on blind welfare in journals and magazines. He has also launched a program for the welfare of the senior citizens under the banner ''Sponsor a Granny-Grandad'', in association with [[Helpage International]], UK.<ref name="PBMA" />

==Positions==
Niranjan Pandya serves as a member of the Access Audit Committee of the [[Government of India]] and is associated with the Vision 2020, an initiative of the International Agency for Prevention of Blindness<ref name="IAPB">{{cite web | url=http://www.iapb.org/vision-2020 | title=IAPB | publisher=IAPB | date=2014 | access-date=8 December 2014}}</ref> as a member.<ref name="PBMA" /><ref name="Google Groups" /> He is the vice president of the ''National Association for the Blind''<ref name="NAB">{{cite web | url=http://www.nabindia.org/ | title=NAB | publisher=NAB | date=2014 | access-date=8 December 2014}}</ref><ref name="Google Groups" /> and a member of the Zonal Advisory Committee of the Rehabilitation Council of India,<ref name="Google Groups" /> the district committee for the ''Prevention and Control of Blindness'', a government initiative, and advisory committee of the Department of Social Service under the [[Ministry of Health and Family Welfare]].<ref name="PBMA" /> A Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary International, Pandya has served as the chairman of the ''Eye Care Committee'' of Rotary Club in Pune.<ref name="PBMA" /> He is also a member of the Asian Blind Union, the [[World Blind Union]] and the board of governing councils for the ''National Societies for the Handicapped in India''.<ref name="PBMA" />

==Awards and recognitions==
The [[Government of India]] awarded Pandya the fourth highest Indian civilian honor of [[Padma Shri]] in 2012.<ref name="Padma Shri" /> Two years later, in 2014, he received the ''Rishitulya Vyaktimatva Award'' from Rotary International.<ref name="Google Groups" /> A recipient of the ''Rustom Alpaiwalla Memorial Award'' from the National association for the Blind, Pandya has also received the [[Government of Maharashtra|Maharashtra State]] Award for best performance on two occasions, 1987–88 and 1988–89<ref name="Pune Mirror" /> and Sankara Eye Centre Award in 2007.<ref name="SEC">{{cite web | url=http://hvdesaieyehospital.org/node/55 | title=SEC | publisher=HVDEH | date=2014 | access-date=8 December 2014}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[World Blind Union]]
{{div col end}}
{{portal|India}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV4F4sUV7xE | title=Civil Investiture Ceremony - Padma Shri | publisher=YouTube | work=Video | date=4 April 2012 | access-date=1 December 2014}}
* {{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_xkeZT9gWc | title=H. V. Desai Eye Hospital - Institute of Eye Care Education and Research | publisher=AarogyaDotCom's Channel | work=YouTube video | date=6 September 2012 | access-date=8 December 2014}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pandya, Niranjan Pranshankar}}

{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Social Work}}

[[Category:1945 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in social work]]
[[Category:Social workers]]
[[Category:People from Pune]]
[[Category:Blind people from India]]
[[Category:Social workers from Maharashtra]]

Niranjan Pranshankar Pandya - Revision history

>JJMC89 bot III: Merging :Category:Indian male social workers to :Category:Social workers per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2021 July 3#Category:Male social workers