Awarded Pravasi Bhartiya Samman by President of India
DUBAI 27 January 2019: Dr. Zulekha Daud, Founder and Chairperson for Zulekha Healthcare Group, hailing from Nagpur, Maharashtra in India, a renowned physician-turned-entrepreneur based in UAE, has received India’s top most honor for overseas Indians – the Pravasi Bhartiya Samman Award.
The award is conferred for individuals who have made significant contributions to philanthropic and charitable work and for prominence in one’s field which has enhanced India’s prestige in the country of residence. The award was presented to Dr. Daud by the President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind on 23rd January 2019 at a ceremony held at Lalpur in Varanasi, India.
The ceremony was presided by high profile government delegates including Sushma Swaraj, Minister for External Affairs, Shri Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and Gen. (Dr.) V.K Singh, Ministry of State of External Affairs. Managing Director Mr. Taher Shams and Co-Chairperson Zanubia Shams of Zulekha Healthcare Group also accompanied Dr. Daud on the occasion.
Expressing her gratitude to the Indian government and all delegates of the Pravasi Bhartiya Divas Dr. Daud said: “I am overwhelmed with this absolute honor and I extend my heartfelt gratitude to Shri Ram Nath Kovind, Hon’ble President of India and other respected members of the Indian Government for this recognition. I highly appreciate the support and encouragement of Indian Ambassador to UAE, Shri Navdeep Singh Suri and Consul General of India Shri Vipul to the Indian fraternity in UAE.”
“The award is in many ways a reward to the growing community of Zulekha Healthcare Group professionals who have strived to combine healthcare experiences & expertise with a human touch to serve people with the highest quality of care. We are committed towards developing the healthcare industry in the UAE and India and in promoting Indo-UAE ties at every opportunity we have,” added Dr. Daud.
Zulekha Healthcare treats over 1.2 million patients a year across sections of society in India and the UAE. Zulekha Healthcare Group, founded by Dr. Daud, has been a leader in healthcare in the Gulf region through its numerous social initiatives aimed at improving healthcare standards. As part of the Group’s Community Health initiatives, they regularly conduct various free awareness and counselling programmes for the masses, as well as the less fortunate sections of the society. One of the many key initiatives is their association with Dar Al Ber Society to make advanced cardiac care affordable and accessible to all communities in UAE. The campaign, entitled ‘Nabed Al Khair’ (The Pulse of Goodness), aims to provide free treatment, healthcare and specialised operations to heart patients through a ten million dirham social fund.
The group recently opened doors for their patrons to its extended facility in Dubai which boasts an additional 60 inpatient beds, emergency services, labour rooms and seven operation theatres taking its total capacity to 179 beds. Spread over an area of 226,000 square feet this expansion will give way to the development of multiple centres of excellence.
Dr. Daud has always believed in empowerment of women and under-privileged students through education. With this belief, she started in 2008 ZED Vocational Training & General Shikshan Sanstha (ZEDVTGSS), in Nagpur, India – a locality considered as backward with poor quality educational institutions. ZED is a Minority Commission recognized institution imparting courses in Education, Science, Commerce and Technology streams. Dr. Daud also set up the following colleges – Zulekha College of Commerce, Science and Technology, Zulekha College of Education and Zulekha Post Graduate College of Education. These colleges have over 5000 students for a variety of professional curriculum such as Polytechnic, BBA, BCCA, B.Com, B.Ed and M.Ed.
Dr. Daud has been in the forefront of many Philanthropic and Social initiatives in India and abroad and believes in contributing to the society by empowering people with knowledge.
