In a ceremony underscoring quiet heroism amid India’s rural healthcare crisis, the Malayalee Association of North American Hindus (MANTRAH) awarded its 2026 Swasthya Mithra Puraskar for selfless service in healthcare to Dr. Ajitha Vasudevan and Dr. Sanjeev Vasudevan. For 22 years, the couple has run the Amrita Kripa Charitable Hospital in Wayanad, providing free palliative and general care to the tribal communities living in Kerala’s forested hills. The husband-and-wife team have been instrumental in establishing and nurturing the hospital into a vital refuge for the region’s tribal population.

MANTRAH President Krishnaraj Mohanan presented the award on 21 January 2026 at the Makarajyoti Auditorium in Kalpetta, in an event hosted by Sanatana Vicharavedi Wayanad. Dr. Sanjeev, trained in pain and palliative care at the International School of Cancer Care, Oxford (UK), has anchored the hospital’s mission — treating not only illnesses but also the dignity of the marginalised.

Advocates Chathukutty and Suresh, along with social workers Ramani Sankar and Krishna Raj, praised the Vasudevans’ work as “a living expression of dharma in action.” In an age when healthcare grows increasingly globalised and compassion often wanes, the couple’s work stands as a powerful reminder that medicine, in its truest form, is not merely a profession but a calling.