Dr. Bharat Pandya, a surgeon and member of the Rotary Club of Borivali in Mumbai, has been confirmed as president-nominee of Rotary International. He will assume the one-year presidency on July 1, 2028.
Pandya will lead Rotary’s network of about 45,000 clubs and 1.2 million members worldwide, with polio eradication expected to remain among the organisation’s key priorities during his term.
His association with Rotary began in 1989, when he joined the newly chartered Rotary Club of Borivali as its only doctor. He was assigned responsibility for the club’s pulse polio immunisation programme and established 10 immunisation centres while also participating in door-to-door vaccination activities.
His work on polio continued at the national level. Pandya served on the India National PolioPlus Committee from 2011 to 2015, during the period leading to India being declared polio-free in 2014.
A general and laparoscopic surgeon, Pandya completed his undergraduate and postgraduate medical education at Seth G. S. Medical College and King Edward Memorial Hospital in Mumbai. He has practised surgery for 38 years.
During his Rotary International presidency, Pandya is expected to focus on long-term humanitarian initiatives, leadership development and community service. Rotary and its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative have reported a 99.9% reduction in polio cases and more than US$3 billion in Rotary contributions toward eradication efforts.
Pandya will be the fifth Indian to serve as president of Rotary International, following Nitish C. Laharry (1962-63), Rajendra K. Saboo (1991-92), Kalyan Banerjee (2011-12) and Shekhar Mehta (2021-22).