On the day of Elections,
it is but common to see people posing showing this fingers having voted !! - this photo is special – not only because
this man is 99 –
more so, because he is a great personality .. .. and this week he walked to
receive the coveted Padma Shri Award from the President of India.
For decades, the Padma Awards were seen as the preserve of the powerful, the connected and the celebrated. Under Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji, that changed. Today, the Padma awards honour grassroots changemakers, tribal artists, folk musicians, social workers, teachers, farmers, environmentalists and unsung heroes who served society quietly for decades without recognition. This is the true democratisation of national honours, where contribution matters more than pedigree, and service matters more than surname.
The Man of
the Post is - Five time Legislator,
twice Health Minister in MGR's Cabinet; Dr. BC Roy awardee; translated Kamba Ramayanam in English Prose;
authored books and is a Medical practitioner helping under-privileged. He took part in Quit India Movement during pre
university days in Mangalore. The electoral foray began when he contested as an
Independent candidate from Graduates Constituency and became a member of Tamil
Nadu Legislative Council in 1964. Thereafter he joined Swatantra Party and was
elected to the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly from Park Town constituency in
the 1967 and 1971 elections
The man Dr
H.V. Hande - was Minister of Health
(1980-86) twice in 2nd and 3rd Ramachandran ministry. He transformed Public
health in Tamil Nadu by bringing down Infant mortality, combating Leprosy,
improving Primary health care facilities etc. The Medical Council of India
honoured him with Dr. B. C. Roy Award in 1985 for excellence as a Health
Minister. Another notable event in his stint was, in 1986 he announced the
first HIV/AIDS case in India when reported in a study done at Christian Medical
College Vellore. He played a prominent
role in providing health care and subsequent Air lifting of M. G. Ramachandran
to Downstate Medical Center Brooklyn in 1984. He ceased to be a legislator with
abolition of Tamil Nadu Legislative Council.
Dr. HV
Hande was born into a Kota Brahmin family as one among the ten children of Dr.
H. Venkataramana Hande, a surgeon at Coimbatore. The family had their ancestral
roots in Mangalore. He completed his schooling from Nellore, Penukonda and
Mangalore and did medical education from Kilpauk Medical College in 1950. He
married Shanthi in 1954 and his sons Krishna Hande and Vishwanath Hande are
doctors
Dr. Hande is fluent in several languages, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and English. His oratory, and excellent debating talents and organizational skills, have won for him accolades from such illustrious personages right from Rajaji, Kamaraj, MGR and others. Dr. Hande's English rendering in prose of KAMBA RAMAYANAM reveals his deep knowledge of Tamil culture and his good command of Tamil and English. He established a hospital and Dr.Hande continues to practice at Hande Hospital - Shenoy Nagar and in June 2010 he completed 60 continuous years of Clinical Practice. He has been a family Physician for four generations of patients.
In 1967 standing for Swarantra Party he won Park Town Assembly constituency; it was a nail-baiting finish at Anna Nagar 198o when he was declared lost to M Karunanidhi by a small margin. In 1989 in a multi-cornered contest he stood in Triplicane Assembly – lost to Nanjil Manoharan.
Branching
off from the Poonamallee High Road at
Amaindakarai, near Lakshmi talkies, Hande Hospital is a well known medical
centre – established and run by Dr Hande.
Dr HV Hande is pride of the Nation and jewel of Tamil Nadu – we admire and feel happy and proud on him being conferred Padma Shri by the Government of India.
27.5.2026
@DrHVHande1
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