Banoo Jehangir Coyaji Biography 
Banoo Jehangir Coyaji was a social activist and doctor from Maharashtra, best known for her efforts towards family planning and population control. For her efforts government of India honoured her with Padma Bhushan in 1989. She is also a recipient of Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service in 1993, and Punya Bhushan in 1991. She completed her medical education from Grant Medical College, Nashik. She passed away on 15 July 2004 aged 86, after prolonged illness. Banoo was also the director of Sakal Group of Newspapers.
Banoo Jehangir Coyaji was born on 7 September 1917 as Banoo Pestonji Kapadia. She was the first girl to pass matriculation from St. Vincent’s boys’ school. Simultaneously she appeared for her senior Cambridge exam from the convent school of Jesus and Mary, and completed her medical studies. After her marriage, she worked with her husband’s brother at his dispensary. Coyalji family still runs the dispensary.
She started her career as a gynaecologist and obstetrician at Pune’s KEM hospital in 1944. From a single floor hospital with 40 beds, she changed it to a hospital with 550 beds in 1999. She also served as the chief medical officer and managing director of the hospital. She did a lot of work on family planning, urban and rural health and children's health, for which she has been honoured with numerous awards and honours.
She is less than 5 feet height, and hence she used to perform surgeries standing on stool. She established a primary health centre at Vadu, a village 40 kms away from Pune in 1972. Now it has grown to Sirdi Sai baba rural hospital which caters nearby villages too. Through a community health care scheme in 1977, she trained a team of 600 girls with the aim of propagating hygiene, sanitation and family planning in the rural areas.
Published: October 16, 2018
Updated: October 16, 2018
