About us
The year 1921 saw the establishment of the Red Cross, Pune, with Lt. Gen. Skipton Climo as its first president. During the formative years, a senior official of the Armed Forces was appointed as president of the Red Cross and he was assisted by a British ICS officer. Two Secretariat’s appointed, one was from the armed forces and the other was a civilian. The first civilian secretary was Khan Bahadur E.S Bharucha with Sir Maneckji Mehta as treasurer. From the year 1939 to 1950, a British doctor from the Armed Forces was entrusted with post of the Vice President. In 1950, however the first Indian vice president was elected. The office of the Red Cross, Pune was at the Sassoon hospital nurses quarters from 1921 to 1957. Later it was shifted to a smaller cottage on Mahatma Gandhi Road. The trio of IRCS – Sir Mehta, Dr Bharucha and Dr Bandorawalla, persuaded the owners Khambatta family to sell the premises to Red Cross, Pune. Around the same time outpatients department of IRCS started functioning. In 1973, late Mr Atur Sangtani a visionary and then Pune Red Cross
Chairman of Red Cross was responsible for creating this huge and imposing premises. A part of the building was rented out to leading institutions thereby assuring some regular funds for activities of the Red Cross, Pune. As a tribute to Late Mr Sangtani the building was renamed as Atur Sangtani Red Cross House.
Dr Bandorawalla who in 1955 was Secretary of the Red Cross, Pune took the lead in the establishment of the Blood Bank.
Whereas, the junior Red Cross was established through the efforts of Ms M G Wadia. The sapling was carefully nurtured by the then JRC chairman Cmdr. K B Godrej. In 1976 to 1977 the youth branch of Junior Red Cross was started. The credit for this goes to Maj P S Sathe who was Secretary of JRC at the time. Around the same time, the efforts of the late Ms Megha Sirvastav (who was later to become the first Principal of the deaf school) achieved the success of establishing the ‘Red Cross school for the Deaf’. She received valuable support and guidance of two philanthropists – Dr Kaveh H Bharucha the then Chairman and secretary Dr P S Sanade.
The Red Cross movement in Pune has successfully progressed for the last 10 decades.
Our approach
Our Mission
Empowering Pune’s communities through compassionate service, health initiatives, and disaster response, the Indian Red Cross Society, Pune Division, is committed to fostering resilience and well-being for all.
Our Vision
We envision a Pune where every individual’s well-being is safeguarded, where compassion and unity drive our actions, and where the Indian Red Cross Society, Pune Division, stands as a pillar of support, leading positive change and uplifting lives.