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Dr Reeta Peshawaria Menon
Remembered on 14 July · passed away 2012
Clinical psychologist · Pioneer of behavioural approaches in intellectual disability
Dr Reeta was a psychologist.
She helped people with intellectual disability to learn and live well.
She was the teacher of Dr Alok, who started Manovikas.
Every year an award is given in her name.
“Think good, feel good.”— Dr Reeta Peshawaria Menon
A life of service
Dr Reeta Peshawaria Menon was one of India’s pioneers in the clinical psychology of intellectual and developmental disabilities. Born into the Peshawaria family of Amritsar, she gave her life to persons with disabilities and their families.
For sixteen years (1985–2000) she was Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology at the National Institute for the Mentally Handicapped (NIMH, now NIEPID), Secunderabad. There she helped build the foundations of rehabilitation practice in India: the BASIC-MR assessment scales, family assessment tools and parent-training models that professionals across the country still use.
From 2000 she served as Consultant Clinical Psychologist Lead in the Tertiary Assessment and Treatment Service of the Specialist Learning Disability Services, Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, UK — working with people with autism and severe challenging behaviour — until her untimely passing on 14 July 2012.
She championed Applied Behaviour Analysis, functional assessment, self-advocacy and family-centred support, always combining science with deep respect for the dignity of every person. She often said that persons with intellectual disability are our best teachers — “they teach us honesty, trust, and friendship.”
Her husband, Dr Desh Keerti Menon, was the founding Director of NIMH/NIEPID (1984–2000). Her sister is Dr Kiran Bedi, India’s first woman IPS officer and former Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry.
Their place in the Manovikas family
Dr Alok Kumar Bhuwan, founder of Manovikas, trained at NIMH under Dr D. K. Menon and Dr Reeta Peshawaria Menon, earning a Diploma in Vocational Training & Employment (1996) with distinction. Her behavioural, family-centred approach shaped how Manovikas teaches to this day.
“I am proud that Alok, a student of my sister Dr. Reeta Peshawaria, has established India’s first college for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities.” — Dr Kiran Bedi
Since 2024 Manovikas has co-hosted the Reeta Peshawaria Oration Award ceremony with the Reeta Peshawaria Centre, and every year at our Convocation the Dr Reeta Peshawaria Memorial Award honours a student in higher education.
The work that continues in their name
Reeta Peshawaria Oration Award
Instituted in 2013 by Dr Desh Keerti Menon in loving memory of his wife, through an endowment. The award was administered by NIEPID from 2013 to 2021; after a pause in 2022 it has been administered since 2023 by the Reeta Peshawaria Centre, Kerala, with Manovikas as co-host.
| Year | Awardee | Ceremony |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Prof. P. Jeyachandran | NIEPID |
| 2014 | Prof. (Dr) Jayanthi Narayan | NIEPID |
| 2015 | Dr Prathibha Karanth | NIEPID · 6 Dec 2015 |
| 2016 | Dr Madhavi Latha Kari Maganti | NIEPID |
| 2017 | Prof. (Dr) Saroj Arya | NIEPID |
| 2018 | Dr A. T. Thressia Kutty | NIEPID |
| 2019 | Mrs Merry Barua | NIEPID |
| 2020 | Mrs Aloka Guha | NIEPID |
| 2021 | Dr Sharada Fatehpuria | NIEPID |
| 2022 | — (award paused) | |
| 2023 | Dr Amar Jyothi Persha | Reeta Peshawaria Centre |
| 2024 | Ms V. R. P. Sheilaja Rao | 11th · CMS College, Kottayam · 17 Nov 2024 |
| 2025 | Prof. (Dr) M. Thomas Kishore | 12th · Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi · Nov 2025 |
| 2026 | Prof. (Dr) Rubina Shanker Lal | 13th · Utkal University, Bhubaneswar · 20 Nov 2026 (upcoming) |
Reeta Peshawaria Fellowship
A separate fellowship established by her family — Dr Kiran Bedi, Dr Desh Keerti Menon, Ms Anu Peshawaria and Mr Gaurav Menon — to support researchers and professionals in developmental and intellectual disabilities worldwide.
Reeta Peshawaria Centre for Autism and ABA Services, Kerala
Founded by her student Simmi Santha and directed by Dr Mereen Punnen, the centre in Mallapally provides early intervention and ABA services and now administers the Oration Award.
Dr Reeta Peshawaria Memorial Award (Manovikas)
Presented every year at the Manovikas Convocation to a student of the Manovikas Institute for Higher Education for academic commitment, perseverance and humanitarian values.
Annual remembrance — 14 July
Family, students and colleagues from India and abroad gather online each July to remember her (2025 organised by India Vision Foundation; 2026 on 14 July).
13th Reeta Peshawaria Oration Award
Friday, 20 November 2026 · Utkal University, Bhubaneswar
The award will be presented to Prof. (Dr) Rubina Shanker Lal, Professor of Special Education, SNDT University, Mumbai, who will deliver the Reeta Peshawaria Oration Lecture. Chief Guest: Dr Kiran Bedi.
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