Dr Sneh Bhargava- India's first woman Radiologist, Lifelong Pioneer in Medicine

An internationally respected figure in radiology education, Sneh Bhargava, holds the position of medical director at Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science and Research and also chairs the radiology department at Dharamshila Narayana Super Speciality Hospital, both located in New Delhi. She is also a professor emeritus of the Department of Radiology at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi.

The Partition Museum, in a recent post on a social media platform, shared Dr Sneh Bhargava's extraordinary life journey. Born in 1930 in Ferozepur, she has been through a remarkable journey: migrating from Jhelum to the Indian side of the border, and later becoming India’s first woman radiologist, Director and Professor Emeritus of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Dr Sneh Bhargava, then a young woman, used to go to the refugee camp along with her father and was responsible for disinfecting the camp area and looking after the food requirements. She believes that “Independence Day in 1947 was not a celebration but a migration."

Dr. Bhargava joined AIIMS as an assistant professor and later became professor and chair of the Department of Radiology. She was involved in the development of the department's post-graduate medical school program, in which she worked to set standards for radiology education throughout India. She also advocated for the first CT scanner and ultrasound for AIIMS, which created new avenues of medical assistance for local patients as well as patients from Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.

Dr. Bhargava was appointed director by then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi—a move that was seen as bold and transformative. However, she faced immediate scepticism and gender bias, with many doubting her ability solely based on her gender. A social media post claimed that she faced sexist whispers that “a woman could not possibly handle the task.”