West Bengal nurse ‘Polio Didimoni’ honoured with National Florence Nightingale Award 2026
New Delhi: Retired health supervisor Gita Karmarkar from Belakoba Rural Hospital, West Bengal, received the National Florence Nightingale Award 2026 from President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan on International Nurses Day.
Known to locals as “Polio Didimoni”, Gita served for 42 years, mostly in the remote Danguajhar Tea Garden in Jalpaiguri. Starting in 1983 with no health centre, she cycled 12-14 km daily, ran clinics from a marketplace, and worked to increase institutional deliveries and vaccination rates in tribal communities.
Despite a 40% disability following a 2008 accident and nine surgeries, she continued field visits until retirement in January 2026. “I never imagined I would receive this award,” Gita said. “I believe it was my mother’s blessing.”
Health officials credited her with virtually eliminating home deliveries in her area by 2014 and building decades of trust across three generations of tea garden families.
