At a ceremony, the President honoured 132 awardees. The Prime Minister and some of his cabinet colleagues were also present. The names of the awardees were announced on January 25.

If the Taj City has become a hub of Homeopathy in the last 40 years, it is primarily due to the notable contribution of the Pareek family headed by the 90-year-old patriarch Dr R.S. Pareek who has mentored hundreds of homoeopaths not just in India but in many countries across Europe.

Pareek was born in Nawalgarh of Rajasthan in 1933. In 1956, he completed his Homeopathy studies at London’s Homeopathic College.

Since 1965 Pareek has presented more than 100 research papers in over 30 countries.

His focus of concern has been cancer treatment and the use of Homeopathic medicines in emergencies and trauma.

In 70 years of practice, he has treated lakhs of patients with chronic illnesses.

Recognising his contribution he has been showered with international awards from the Hahnemann award in Germany to prestigious honours in Switzerland and Germany.

Due to age factor, he is not able to devote as much time but the mantle has successfully been passed over to his son Dr Alok Pareek, and grandson Dr Aditya Pareek.

Local homoeopaths have congratulated and expressed the hope that Dr Pareek’s contribution will continue to guide future generations of Homeopaths in the city which has more than half a dozen internationally recognised Homeopaths like Dr Parthasarathy Sharma who holds the Guinness Record for counselling lakhs of patients, Dr RK Gupta, director of Naimi Nath Hospital, which came to light when hundreds of Covid-19 patients were successfully treated with Homeopathic medicines, Dr Kailash Saraswat, Dr Siddharth Mishra, and several others.