Dr. B. Ramana Rao (Bhogaraju Ramana Rao), Padma Shri
Physician, Cardiologist & Champion of Free Rural Healthcare
Bhogaraju Ramana Rao was born in Hyderabad; his parents came from West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. He completed his MBBS from Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, in 1973 and MD in Medicine and Cardiology from Bangalore Medical College in 1980. He has practised as a consultant physician and cardiologist in Bengaluru, serving at leading hospitals including Fortis, Mallya and Columbia Asia, while also running his own clinic.
The day after receiving his MBBS degree—15 August 1973—he began a free weekly medical camp at his farmhouse in T. Begur village, about 35–45 km from Bengaluru. Every Sunday since then, without a break, he has treated hundreds of patients (often averaging 1,000 or more) who come from surrounding villages within a 100-km radius. Consultations, basic investigations (blood pressure, blood sugar, ECG), medicines, mid-day meals and, when needed, further support are provided free of charge. Over the decades he has treated well over two million patients at these camps.
Beyond medical care, he has arranged free clothes and rice during festivals, notebooks and study material for children, and has helped build hundreds of toilets and improve drinking-water facilities in nearby villages. He has also supported cataract surgeries and school initiatives. His wife Hema and their two sons (both doctors) have been active partners in this work.
In the city he has been the consulting physician to many public figures, including the legendary Kannada actor Dr. Rajkumar and members of the Karnataka royal family, yet he has always returned to the village clinic as the centre of his practice.
The Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri in 2010 for his contribution to medicine. He has also received the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award, the Dr. Abdul Kalam National Award for rural medical service, and other recognitions.
Even after decades of uninterrupted service, Dr. Ramana Rao continues the Sunday clinics with the same quiet dedication.
“Healthcare is incomplete,” he says, “unless it reaches the villages with dignity, medicines and a listening ear.”
On a typical Sunday morning at his farmhouse clinic in T. Begur village, a long queue of patients waited patiently. One elderly man asked, “Doctor, how do you keep doing this every week for so many years?”
Dr. B. Ramana Rao smiled and replied, “My parents taught me that knowledge is useful only when it reaches those who need it most. If I can ease even a little suffering each Sunday, the day is well spent.”
That simple commitment has guided him for more than five decades.
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