VISAKHAPATNAM: The well-known Visakhapatnam doctor Sunkara Venkata Adinarayana Rao was conferred with the Padma Shri Award for extending his services to thousands of polio victims.
The 82-year-old orthopedic surgeon Adinarayana Rao is noted for his work for poor people. He won many awards in his six decades of service as a doctor.
Adinarayana Rao was born in Bhimavaram in West Godavari district on June 30 of 1939 to freedom fighters Kanakam and Seshamma. He got an MBBS degree in 1966 and a master's degree in Orthopaedic Surgery from Andhra Medical College in 1970.
Adinarayana Rao married to R Sasiprabha, the former superintendent of King George Hospital, and was settled in Vizag long back. He won many national and international awards for his yeoman services.
Presently, he is the managing trustee of Free Polio Surgical and Research Foundation. He is very popular across India, especially in North India, for his treatment of polio victims. He performed more than one lakh surgeries to date.
Adinarayana Rao got a national award from the Prime Minister of India for his welfare works for disabled persons in 1988. He was also a recipient of the Madras Telugu Academy award. Mahaveer Foundation national award. He received the National award for child welfare from the President of India in 2014. He is the Director-General of the Prema Group of hospitals and institutions.
Adinarayana is a football game lover and was president of the Visakhapatnam district football association for more than three decades. He is the one who brought fame to the Visakha Trophy national football championship, in which the top clubs in the country such as Mohun Bagan, East Bengal, and Mohammadan Sporting, besides many famous clubs from Maharashtra, Goa, Punjab and other places took part in the tournament till the early 90s.
