Sushovan Banerjee ( – 26 July 2022), also known as One Rupee Doctor, was an Indian physician and politician. He was known for treating needy people for one

rupee Rupee (, ) is the common name for the currency, currencies of Indian rupee, India, Mauritian rupee, Mauritius, Nepalese rupee, Nepal, Pakistani rupee, Pakistan, Seychellois rupee, Seychelles, and Sri Lankan rupee, Sri Lanka, and of former cu ...

. In 1984, he was the MLA of

Bolpur Bolpur is a city and a municipality in Birbhum district in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Bolpur subdivision. Bolpur municipal area includes Santiniketan. The city is known as a cultural and educational hub of ...

. In 2020, he was awarded the fourth highest civilian honour of India

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

by the Indian Government for his contribution in the field of

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

Early life

Banerjee was from

, West Bengal. He did his graduation from R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital and did his PG degree in Pathology from

Calcutta University The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

. Then he moved to London for a diploma in

Haematology Hematology ( spelled haematology in British English) is the branch of medicine concerned with the study of the cause, prognosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases related to blood. It involves treating diseases that affect the production ...

Career

Banerjee had contested on an

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

ticket in 1984 and was elected as the member of the

West Bengal Legislative Assembly The West Bengal Legislative Assembly (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paścimabaṅga Vidhānasabhā'') is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of West Bengal, located in eastern India. It consists of 294 members directly elected from single-seat ...

from Bolpur. Since 1963 he was treating poor patients for just one rupee. Only during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

he had to shut down his medical clinic for sometime, otherwise his clinic was always open. In 2020 he held his name in the

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

for treating the maximum number of patients in a lifetime. In the same year, he was awarded the

by the Indian Government for his contribution on the field of medicine. He has also got a gold medal from R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital.

Personal life

Banerjee died on 26 July 2022, at the age of 84.

Awards

* ''Gold Medal'' * ''

'' in 2020

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Banerjee, Sushovan 1930s births 2022 deaths Recipients of the Padma Shri in medicine University of Calcutta alumni People from Birbhum district Medical doctors from Kolkata