Jai Pal Singh
Jai Pal Singh | |
|---|---|
| Director, Post Graduate Medical Education and Research, Rohtak, Haryana and Principal Medical College, Haryana. India. | |
| In office 1989–1992 | |
| Medical Superintendent, Dr. RML Hospital, (formerly The Willingdon Hospital), Delhi, India. | |
| In office 1986–1989 | |
| Professor and Head of Department of Surgery at University College of Medical Sciences, University of Delhi, India. | |
| In office 1980–1986 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 13 May 1930 Mhow, Meerut (UP) |
| Died | 24 September 1997 (aged 67) Delhi, India |
| Spouse | Ved Wati (13 May 1929) |
| Children | Rashmi Singh (13/12/1952) Harsh Singh Lohit (1/12/1959) |
| Alma mater | Sarojini Naidu Medical College, Agra |
| Profession | Doctor Professor |
Dr. Jai Pal Singh (13 May 1930 – 24 September 1997) was born at Mhow, Madhya Pradesh to Dr Yogendra Singh, doctor’s assistant in the British Army, and Kartari Devi. His family belonged to a poor, self-cultivating peasant community from village Bharangpur in district Meerut, United Provinces (present day Uttar Pradesh).
Young Jai Pal Singh obtained his MBBS degree in 1952 and an MS in 1955 with academic honours from the Sarojini Naidu Medical College at Agra, the third oldest medical college in India. He was awarded the Seth Matrumal Benara Jain Golden Medal and Rai Saheb Dr. Lekh Raj Singh Silver Medal for Ophthalmology for standing 1st in the University. He was as an all-rounder as the sports captain of the college; was member of the hockey, football and tennis teams; and was very active in college theatre and Urdu poetry. This was, incidentally, the same college from where his father had graduated a generation ago as an assistant to British doctors. Dr. Singh evolved into a multi-faceted personality, desiring to excel in all he did in his life and profession, with a larger than life, open-hearted personality that lit up the room and hearts he entered.
Dr. Jai Pal Singh married Ved Wati in 1958, daughter of Chaudhary Charan Singh, the 5th Prime Minister of India and the voice of the village, agriculture and handcrafts in independent India.[1]
After completing his MS in 1955 from SN Medical College, Dr. Jai Pal Singh served for 35 years in Delhi in the Central Government Health Systems (CGHS) public hospital system. He was Senior Surgeon and Consultant at Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and Safdarjung Hospital; Head Department of Surgery Safdarjang Hospital and Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital; Post Graduate Supervisor, Teacher and Professor of Surgery at Lady Hardinge Medical College and the University College of Medical Sciences; and Medical Superintendent & Head of Surgery, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. In 1989, Dr. Jai Pal Singh was appointed Director, Dean, Professor and Head, Department of Surgery at Medical College, Rohtak (now the Pt. B. D. Sharma PGIMS) the only tertiary care medical institution in Haryana.
The Padma Shree citation conferred on him in 1991 by the President of India states ‘Endowed with a rare quality of social awareness, Dr. Jai Pal Singh was an eminent surgeon who carved for himself a prominent place as leader in the medical world in Delhi devoted to finding solutions for the health problems peculiar to our country.’
Dr. Singh was a passionate man, attracted to perfection, with a warm and larger than life personality that lit up the room he entered. He was passionate about excellence in education, having seen the benefits in his own life and career. His last position was between 1989 and 1992 as Director of the only tertiary care and medical teaching facility in the state of Haryana at Rohtak. While there, and for decades before, he was widely acknowledged to be an outstanding medical administrator with an all-consuming concern for the urban poor and the agriculturists who frequented the hospitals he worked in. His commitment to rural people was remarkable. When he practiced privately between 1992 and 1995 in Delhi, he operated without fee on scores of poor. During his career, thousands from rural areas from around Delhi came to him for succour in times of medical and personal distress to navigate the complex public health system and they never went away empty handed.
He taught undergraduate and post-gradu\ate medical students in Delhi between 1959 and 1986 and conducted research on subjects of relevance to Indian society. He made many original contributions to surgical science which received national and international recognition. His work on childhood burns, hernia, surgical nutrition and new operation for prolapse of rectum received acclaim. His contributions on kidney stones and motility studies on large intestines were landmarks in Indian Surgery. His work on amoebic liver abscess was published in the American Journal of Surgery.
Dr. Jai Pal Singh trained in Paediatric Surgery under the Colombo Plan in 1968 at the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, London. He travelled to United Kingdom and United States of America on a WHO Fellowship to study the organization of Trauma Service, Accident and Emergency Departments. He was invited by Royal Australasian College of Surgeons to its scientific meeting held in Melbourne in 1984 to initiate discussion on ‘Large Bowel Cancer in India’. He attended and read papers at the 13th International Cancer Congress in Seattle, USA in 1982, and attended the second European Cancer Congress at Amsterdam, Holland in 1983. He was invited by the Society of Surgeons of Pakistan in 1989 for an International meeting where he read a paper on kidney stones. He was invited by International Gastroenterology Surgical Club to its meeting at Athens in 1990. Dr. Jai Pal Singh wrote a treatise on ‘Newer Aetriopathologoical aspects of Urinary Calculi and means of preventing their recurrence’, which secured him the Hari Om Ashram Prerit Dr. S. Rangachari Research Endowment Award by the ASI in 1986 at Agra. He published more than three score papers in indexed journals in India and in International Journals of repute.
Dr. Singh earned recognition for his work in surgery and had the honour of being appointed as Honorary Surgeon to two Presidents of India. He was conferred the Padma Shri in 1991 by the Government of India.
Dr. Jai Pal Singh breathed his last on 24 September 1997. The Association of Surgeons of India commenced an Oration in the memory of this great surgeon in 1999.[2]
Dr. Jai Pal Singh was an Indian physician and educator. Singh obtained his bachelor’s medical degree in 1962 Sarojini Naidu Medical College, Agra, India - the same institute from where his father (Yogendra Singh, a doctor with the British Army) graduated a generation ago. After completing his post-graduate qualifications in Surgery in 1955 , he worked for over 40 years in Delhi and its neighbouring regions.
His last official position was as Director of what was then Rohtak Medical College & Hospital in Haryana and is now Pt. B. D. Sharma PGIMS Rohtak the only tertiary care and medical teaching facility in the state of Haryana.
Professional career[edit]
Singh earned recognition for his work in surgery and was appointed as Honorary Surgeon to two Presidents of India and was honored by President of India Padma Shri by in 1991.[3]
Teaching experience[edit]
- 1953–1955 Clinical Tutor, S.N. Medical College, Agra
- 1955–1958 Registrar (Surgery), lady Irwin Hospital, New Delhi
- 1959–1979 Honorary Assistant Professor of Surgery, Lady Hardinge Medical College and The *Willingdon Hospital, New Delhi (Supervisor for Master of Surgery since 1968)
- 1980–1986 Professor, University of Delhi at University College of Medical Sciences, Safdarjung Hospital and Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi
Other awards[edit]
Recipient of the Hari Om Ashram Prerit Award[4] in 1986 for the best piece of Surgical Research on "Newer Aetriopathologoical aspects of Urinary Calculi and means of preventing their recurrence".
Publications[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "Charan Singh Archives - Charan Singh Family Tree". www.charansingh.org. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
- ^ "Padma Shri Dr. Jai Pal Singh – The Association of Surgeons of India". Retrieved 25 May 2024.
- ^ "Padma Awards Directory (1954–2009)" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 May 2013.
- ^ "ASI - Association of Surgeons of India". Archived from the original on 28 March 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2011.