Eight doctors including Director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Randeep Guleria and two from the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital were awarded the prestigious Dr BC Roy Award for excellence in the field of medicine on Tuesday. They received the honour from President Pranab Mukherjee at a function held at the Rashtrapati Bhawan here.

The awards were announced last October. Eight senior AIIMS faculty members were conferred the coveted honour, the AIIMS said. "AIIMS Director and Head of  Pulmonology Dr Randeep Guleria, Head of Orthopaedic Department Dr Rajesh Malhotra, Professor in Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Dr JB Sharma and Professor in Orthopaedic Department Dr CS Yadav are among the awardees," a senior official of AIIMS said. Guleria was recently appointed the head of the premier institute.

"Head of Urology Department Dr PN Dogra, Professor in Urology Department Dr Amlesh Seth, Professor in Cardiology Department Dr Rakesh Yadav and Professor in Department of Nuclear Medicine Dr Rakesh Kumar also received the award," he said.

From the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Chairman (Board of Management) and Department of  Nephrology Dr DS Rana and Chairman of Department of Chest  and Thoracic Surgery Dr Arvind Kumar received the honour.

"This award is dedicated to my teachers and gurus... My message to all upcoming medical professionals is that hard work, sincerity and dedication will always make you succeed," Rana said. "Dr Rana was chosen in the category of 'recognising the best talents in encouraging the development of specialities in different branches in medicine' and Dr Kumar for the 'Eminent Medical Person' category," a senior official of SGRH said.

The Bidhan Chandra Roy Award was instituted in 1976 in the memory of renowned physician and freedom fighter BC Roy by Medical Council of India.