Prof Asha Bhende

Citation read out at the presentation of the "Prof. Asha Bhende Gold Medal" for the Best Student at MA / Msc at the 53rd Convocation at the International Institute For Population Sciences (IIPS) on 17th June 2011.

Prof. Asha Bhende, Former Professor and Head, Department of Population Policies and Programmes, IIPS, Mumbai will always be remembered for her contribution to the field of Family Planning & Reproductive Health. Born on 1^st October 1928 in the family of eminent academicians, Prof. Bhende had three Masters degrees – in Sociology (Bombay University), in Social Work (Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai), in Public Health ( Berkley University, California, USA) and Ph. D. from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. Her doctoral work on “Husband-wife Communication and Family planning Acceptance” under the guidance of Prof Gore, a well known sociologist, which reflected her insight into the social aspects of population issues was much ahead of the time. Equipped with this unique educational background she was a multidisciplinary population scientist in the true sense of the term.

Her contact with the community, while working in the Family Planning Training Center at the initial stage of her career and later on the experience of working in the action research project at IIPS with Dr. Chandrasekaran enriched her understanding of grass root realities ,which was reflected in her research and teaching .

She was a joint author of ‘Principles of Population Studies’, a text book on Demography which presents the complexities of population dynamics lucidly. Twenty editions of the book in a span of 32 years show the popularity of the book among students of population studies. She was convener of the University Grant Commission’s Population Education Consultation Committee

Prof. Bhende’s study of Mumbai slums, undertaken for the World Vision is recognized as a pioneering work in the area of adolescent sexuality. She was also a consultant to International Labor Organization for the project on “Family Planning and Creation of Job Opportunities for Women Slum Dwellers in Nairobi, Kenya. She also worked as a consultant to UNFPA, Rockefeller Foundation, FRHS Ahmedabad and National Association for the Blind. She was a visiting fellow to the East West Center, Hawaii in 1985.

With her contribution to Marathi theatre as an actress and her achievements in the field of Population Studies, Prof. Bhende was a rare combination of artistic mind and academic temperament

As a chairperson of the Ashish Gram Rachna Trust, of the Institute of Health Management, Pachod, Maharashtra, she was active till her death on May 28, 2010, in directing the programmes of the trust aimed at the holistic development of the individual, family and community and to the upliftment of marginalized groups.

The International Institute for Population Sciences is privileged to announce Prof. Asha Bhende Award instituted by the Institute of Health Management, Pachod for the Overall Best performance in the MA/ MSc Course in Population Studies from IIPS.