Dr.Lakshmi Rahamatullah, the second recipient of the SI Woman of the year, is a no-nonsense public health activist and an outspoken champion of holistic community health. A student of Rabindranath Tagore in Shanthiniketan, and later taught by sister Teresa (who later become Mother Terasa), Dr Lakshmi Rahamatullah graduated in medicine from Lady Harding College, New Delhi, in 1952. She later studied Tropical Medicine at the London School of Hygiene and tropical Medicine , University of London.

Internationally renowned for her innovative link worker concept of involving the women of local community in primary healthcare, Dr Lakshmi Rahamatullah was principal investigator of the VASIN (Vitamin A Supplementation in New borns) study in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University. She was featured in the World Who’s of Women Cambridge(1996).