Govind Poddar

Born on 5 January 1952 at Nagpur, Govind Poddar inherited a tradition of giving and turned it into institutions. He advises on economics, rural development, agriculture, forestry and small industries — and has spent a working lifetime building the organisations through which that advice becomes practice.

His father, Shyamsunderji Poddar, was a philanthropist who donated the land on which the Radhakrishna Hospital stands, co-founded several hospitals of 100 to 200 beds, and established temples, dharamshalas and schools. The son took up the work and widened it.

As President of the Radhakrishna Hospital & Research Institute, he leads a 150-bed super-specialty hospital in Nagpur with six modular operation theatres, CT scanning and its own oxygen plant. Through the institute and its outreach camps, more than 35,000 free operations have been performed and over five lakh people have benefited. During the pandemic the hospital served upwards of two thousand people a day, and pressed for cost reforms in COVID testing and in the pricing of Remdesivir under the guidance of the Supreme Court — work credited in his record with bringing down inflated medical costs and saving a very large sum of public money.

Beyond the hospital, his work runs along two lines: the land and the culture. As President of Gram Vikas Sansthan he has established what is described as the largest plantation in central India, with a programme centred on water, soil and natural farming — recognised with the “Vruksh Mitra” and Priyadarshini awards. Through Bhartiya Vikas Sansthan he led the Kargil Jan-Jagran Yatra, a 3,500-kilometre awareness journey coordinated with Atal Bihari Vajpayee and several Chief Ministers.

The Hanumanprasad Poddar Memorial Foundation, which he heads, promotes Sanatan Dharma and cultural literature in the tradition of Gita Press and Geeta Bhavan; the Agra Vishva Trust holds a Guinness record for translations of ancient scripture. As Secretary of Harmony Universe he oversaw the sale of four lakh copies of Pride of India. Two further foundations carry his health and economic work: the United Health Foundation, whose Anandam Wellness Centres offer yoga, Ayurveda and naturopathy and provide special care for kidney and liver patients in east Nagpur, and the United Progressive Foundation, which works to connect producers directly with consumers in the rural–urban economy.

He has represented India at global seminars in nine countries, served as an ex-Director of FICCI and as President of the LPG Federation of India from 1995 to 2009, and sat on government bodies including the National and Zonal Railway Users’ Consultative Committees, the Raman Science Centre under the Ministry of Human Resource Development, and the Vigyan Sanstha of the Government of Maharashtra. Alongside this he has run job drives employing thousands of young people, supported gaushala operations feeding organic agriculture, and sustained programmes for the elderly and the marginalised — the constituency this Initiative exists to serve.