Padma Shri awardee Sulagitti Narasamma passes away at 98

Renowned social worker and Padma Shri awardee Sulagitti Narasamma passed away in Bengaluru today. She had helped deliver more than 15,000 babies in Krishnapura, a remote village in Pavagada taluk in Karnataka. She was 98. Narasamma had been conferred with the Padma Shri by President Ram Nath Kovind on March 20, 2018.

Sulagitti Narasamma, born in 1920, hailed from a community that was at the time referred to as ‘untouchable’.

She is survived by four sons. She is best known for extending free of cost midwife services to women. It is believed that she learned the art from her grandmother.


Her work received special recognition in Krishnapura, a remote village in Karnataka’s Pavagada taluk. Narasamma was conferred an honorary doctorate by the Tumkur University in 2014.