Ashok Panagariya

Ashok Panagariya is an Indian neurologist, medical researcher and academic, known for his researches on nerve cells and neuromyotonia. He is a former Vice Chancellor of Rajasthan University of Health Sciences, Jaipur and a former member of the Planning Board of the Government of Rajasthan. A recipient of Dr. B. C. Roy Award, the highest Indian award in the medical category, Panagariya was awarded the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2014.

Dr Ashok Panagariya was born in 1950 in Jaipur, in the Indian state of Rajasthan, in a family of freedom fighters and his father Babu Lal Panagariya was a pre-independence journalist. He graduated (MBBS) in 1972, Post Graduate in Internal Medicine (1976) from SMS Medical college university, DM (Neurology) PGI Chandigarh and became a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. He headed the department of neurology at the Sawai ManSingh Medical College and became the Principal of the institution. He also served as vice Chancellor of Rajasthan University of Health Sciences, as the president of Indian Academy of Neurology 2010-2011 and has been a member of the State Planning Board on health.

Panagariya is a professor emeritus of the SMS Medical College and an honorary neurologist to the Armed Forces of India. He is the chairman of DISHA Foundation, a non profit non governmental organization engaged in the welfare of people with special needs. He is also associated with the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh and the Press Club of Jaipur, as a member.

Panagaria received the Merit award from the Government of Rajasthan in 1992. The Medical Council of India awarded him the Dr. B. C. Roy Award, the highest Indian award in the medical category, in 2002. He was awarded the civilian honour of Padma Shri in 2014 by the Government of India. He is also a recipient of the UNESCO Award for medical/social contributions and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Times of India.

Panagariya has more than ninety publications in peer reviewed journals such as Elsevier and has contributed to a text book on Neurology by Walter George Bradley. He has also written on health issues and the science of spiritualism.