CHENNAI: The story of Dr P K Gopal, winner of the Padma Shri, is similar to the rising of the phoenix. Diagnosed with leprosy at the age of 19, he remained dauntless, went ahead and lived his dreams. For more than four decades he had worked for the cause of the leprosy-affected, and today, at 71 years of age he can rightly be called the Messiah of the leprosy affected.
Speaking to Express, Dr Gopal said, “I would like to tell the people, that leprosy is a very curable disease. Drugs are freely available and a person affected by leprosy can live and pursue their dreams. It is high time that society stops discriminating against them.”
Gopal was born in 1941 in Erode. He studied in Kalaimagal Kalvi Nilayam, Sengunthar High School and then graduated in Economics in C N Mahajana College in Erode. In 1969, he got a job as a Social Worker in Sacred Heart Leprosy Centre, Kumbakonam. In 1970, he joined in Loyola College, Chennai, and received a Masters Degree in Social Work.
He later went back to the Kumbakonam leprosy hospital to work as a Rehabilitation Officer. In 1972, he started the first Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Department in the leprosy hospital. It was the first such department in a hospital for leprosy, run by a qualified person in the country.
In 1993, he obtained a PhD Degree in Rehabilitation from Ranchi University. In 1994, with his efforts, the International Organisation IDEA (Integration, Dignity and Economic Advancement) for providing support for the leprosy-affected was started in Brazil.