Sheetal Amte (26 January 1981 – 30 November 2020), also known by the name Sheetal Amte-Karajgi after her marriage, was an Indian

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

expert, disability specialist and social entrepreneur. She was chief executive officer and board member of a non-profit organisation, Maharogi Sewa Samiti, which focuses on helping people disadvantaged by

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria '' Mycobacterium leprae'' or '' Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve da ...

Life

Sheetal Amte was the daughter of Vikas Amte and Bharati Amte, and granddaughter of

Baba Amte Murlidhar Devidas Amte, popularly known as Baba Amte, (26 December 1914 – 9 February 2008) was an Indian social worker and social activist known particularly for his work for the rehabilitation and empowerment of people suffering from lepros ...

, who established a rehabilitation home for lepers in Anandwan, in the state of Maharashtra, and stayed there in campus. She also established Maharogi Sewa Samiti (MSS), Warora, and was its chief executive officer and board member, to run the facilities, which include a range of health care, rehabilitation, education, agriculture, and economic empowerment programmes and was . Maharogi Sewa Samiti has helped to create livelihood capacities of thousands of marginalised people especially those with disabilities like suffering with leprosy, Orthopedically handicapped, vision and hearing impaired and primitive tribal populace even operating from one of the most backward districts of Central India -Chandrapur since 1949. She studied medicine and became a physician and also completed a master's degree in social entrepreneurship from

Tata Institute of Social Sciences Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) is a multi-campus public research university in Mumbai, India. It is Asia's oldest institute for professional social work education and was founded in 1936 in then Bombay Presidency of British India as ...

(TISS), and joined her family working at Anandwan to continue her grandfather's vision; her brother Kaustubh is an accountant for Anandwan and her uncle Prakash Amte and aunt Mandakini Amte are also physicians at the community. She also studied leadership from the Harvard Kennedy School. She helped to secure the financial assistance of the Tech Mahindra Foundation to provide food for children in Anandwan schools. She also led the installation of solar power panels at the community, resulting in Maharogi Sewa Samiti receiving an award for Innovative Energy Project of the Year 2016 from the

Association of Energy Engineers The Association of Energy Engineers (AEE), founded in 1977, is a non-profit professional society whose mission is “to promote the scientific and educational interests of those engaged in the energy industry and to foster action for sustainable d ...

, and intended to incorporate more smart technology into the community in future to make Anandwan a smart village. In 2016, she was named a Young Global Leader by the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

. She was also selected as Member of World Economic Forum Expert Network on Humanitarian Response. She was also selected as a

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

Innovation Ambassador and an advisor to i4P (Innovations for Peace). Dr.Sheetal was working as a fellow of the World Innovation Organisation, an initiative from World Summit on Innovation and United Nations. In the year 2016 she was awarded INK fellowship and Rotary Vocational Excellence Award. On 30 November 2020, she died by suicide. She was also a painter and is survived by her husband Gautam Karajgi and a seven-year-old son Sharvil.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amte, Sheetal 1981 births 2020 deaths 2020 suicides 21st-century Indian medical doctors Indian women medical doctors 21st-century Indian women scientists 21st-century women physicians Medical doctors from Maharashtra People from Chandrapur district Suicides in India