Now 74, this retired head of the pathology department of the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences in Ranchi has been treating poor patients for all of Rs 5 since 1966. Most in Ranchi walk up to him and get treatment for free and he donates all medicines he gets from pharmaceutical firms. He practices for 9 hours everyday, and never refuses a patient.

Dr Maqbool Mir, an ENT specialist in Srinagar Medical College, set up a centre for the differently-abled children from the valley, children who were rejected by their families and had little professional avenues to seek treatment. Dr Mir's centre has over 400 children today.

Neglected, abandoned, the mentally challenged in Thrissur found a saviour in this gentle professor of Zoology - Dr Bhanumati. Bhanumati grew up with three mentally challenged siblings and decided early on that she would not let the mentally challenged be ridiculed in her city. Starting from just one small room in a government school, today she runs an institute for the mentally challenged that has 55 members. Bhanumati and her husband decided not to have any children of their own. But together they've put a smile on the faces of their adopted children and given them a chance to live life with dignity.

45 year old wildlife photographer, Swagat takes out India's first Braille newspaper for the visually blind. Published twice a month, Sparshdyan or knowledge by touch is a 50 page Marathi newspaper launched in Feb 2008. Swagat puts in his own money for the printing of the paper and takes a yearly subscription fee only from institutions that can afford to pay. He's given the blind their basic right to news.