The Managing Director of Boparai Dukhniwaran Charitable Hospital Dr Gian Boparai who had earned a name and fame as obstetrician and gynaecologist was bidden tearful adieu at the Antim Ardas held for her at Gurudwara D-Block, Ranjit Avenue, Amritsar on Saturday Oct 01, 2011. So vast was the sphere of popularity of Dr Gian that the vast precincts of the prayer hall and langar hall as well as the open compound were filled to capacity. Conspicuous by their presence and suave demeanour throughout the 100 minute ceremony were the luminaries from academia and medicine as also the stalwarts from Government, Political arena across party lines, Business and Industry.
Mr. Nirmal Singh Kahlon, Speaker Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Mr Ranjit Singh Brahmpura and Capt Balbir Singh Baath both Cabinet Ministers, Chief Parliamentary Secretaries Sital Singh and Tarun Chug, MLAs Dalbir Singh Verka, Anil Joshi, Om Prakash Soni, Sukhsarkaria, Harjinder Singh Thekedar, ex Mayor Sunil Datti, , Cabinet Minister Gulzar Singh Ranike family, Lt General GD Singh, Major General KMKS Waraich, Major General Shergill, Sessions Judge Bhupinder Singh and Sessions Judge Karnail Singh, Chief Engineer Sandeep Singh Sandhu, Director Research and Medical Education Dr Jaikishan, Principal Medical College Dr SS Shergill and senior faculty and staff of Govt. Medical College Amritsar and Sri Guru Ram Dass Institute of Medical Sciences Amritsar, and scores of VIPs of numerous hues paid their respective tributes to the departed soul. Before the Antim Ardas in the Gurudwara, Sri RL Bhatia, ex Union Minister and Governor, Cabinet Minister Mrs Laxmi Kanta Chawla, ex-Cabinet Minister Sardool Singh Bandala and a number of other VIPs and people visited the Boparais at Dukhniwaran hospital to mourn the untimely demise of the great doctor. Dr RPS Boparai, the bereaved husband announced that the family had decided to dedicate Boparai Dukhniwaran Hospital to Dr Gian Boparai’s memory and to run it on charity basis and the ethics and principles as enshrined by the departed soul.
BRIEF OBITUARY:
A doctor par excellence, philanthropist, academician and dearly loved by the young and the old Dr. Gian Boparai’s untimely and sudden demise on 22/9/2011 has left thousands mourning and remembering her compassion and proficiency as a gynaecologist.
Dr Mrs Gian Boparai was born into an agriculturalist family of a remote and non-descript village Sangatpura in the Mand area of Chola Sahib Block, Distt. Tarn Taran. She rose to become the first to be selected on merit in the competition for admission and became a medical graduate(MBBS) from Govt. Medical College Amritsar in 1970. She joined PCMS in 1972 and then qualified as MD Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
The following year, i.e. in 1973 she married Dr. Rajinder Pal Singh Boparai, the now well known Orthopaedician and until recently the Medical Superintendent of Guru Nanak Dev and Associated hospitals, Amritsar. Since the very beginning she had been serving the patient community of Amritsar with a dedication and commitment not commonly seen nowadays. She earned accolades as the most sought after gynaecologist, first at Sant Ran Dhal Hospital and then at Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Amritsar. She went on deputation as Assistant Professor to Sri Guru Ram Das Hospital managed by the SGPC, where she worked tirelessly as Chief Gynaecologist from 1991 to 1997. The meritorious service here in turbulent times earned the Boparais the title of Nishan-e-Khalsa on the Tercentenary celebrations in 1999. The pioneering work of the Boparais in surgical intervention in HIV +ve patients won them the Punjab State Parman Patra (State Award) in 2002.
After 25 years of meritorious and unblemished Government service she took premature retirement. Her last call of duty was at Boparai Dukhniwaran Hospital and Nursing Home which she had been managing with a patient friendly and conscientious manner. She was staunchly against unethical practices in the profession, never allowing anyone to undergo unindicated surgery to exploit the poor. She had endeared herself to the masses by her compassionate and straight-forward manner which was shorn of any intention of commercial success, her steadfast motto and motive being medical ethics.
Dr Gian Boparai breathed her last at her own hospital, after a year’s fight with Alzheimer’s disease. The Boparais have 3 children all of who have been toppers through their respective academics. Their 2 daughters, Rubina and Manveen, are both successful doctors in the US, and one son Harman, also MBBS from GMC Amritsar is currently managing the Nursing Home she established. Her funeral was held on 22nd September 2011 at the Crematorium near Chattiwind gate.
