Maya Tandon

Maya Tandon is an anaesthesiologist who has spent three decades training ordinary people to save the lives of road accident victims. She was named for the Padma Shri in 2024 in the field of social work, from Rajasthan ^[1].

Doctor

She was born on 20 February 1937 in Ajmer and earned her MBBS from the University of Rajasthan in 1961, followed by postgraduate qualifications in anaesthesia at SMS Medical College, Jaipur ^[2]. On a Commonwealth fellowship in paediatric anaesthesia in Liverpool, she watched how Britain’s National Health Service trained members of the public as first responders ^[2].

She went on to head the anaesthesiology department at SMS Medical College and to serve as superintendent of its J.K. Lon Hospital ^[2].

Sahayta

When she retired in 1995, she set up a charitable trust, now called Sahayta, to reduce deaths from road accidents in India ^[2]. She drew up a basic life-saving course based on international resuscitation guidelines and keeps it up to date ^[2]. Sahayta’s trainers run hands-on courses for the public ^[2].

She served on the National Road Safety Council from 2016 to 2018 and has been active in Rajasthan’s road safety council ^[2]. In 2006 she received the Prince Michael International Road Safety Award ^[2].