3-ft-tall Gujarat doctor, defying all odds and winning legal battles, starts first posting today

Dr Ganesh Baraiya comes from Gorkhi village in Gujarat’s Bhavnagar district. His parents are farmers and he is one of eight siblings, seven sisters and one younger brother. (Image: X)

At just three feet tall and weighing 20 kg, 25-year-old Dr Ganesh Baraiya, the diminutive doctor, who battled all the way to the Supreme Court for his right to practise medicine, begins his first posting as a medical officer on Thursday.

Born with dwarfism and a 72% locomotor disability, his posting as a medical officer, marks the end of years of struggle, determination and a landmark fight for his right to study medicine.

Baraiya comes from Gorkhi village in Gujarat’s Bhavnagar district. His parents are farmers and he is one of eight siblings, seven sisters and one younger brother.

His first goal after receiving his salary is to be a home. “My family still lives in a kaccha house. My dream is to build a proper brick house with basic facilities. Construction stopped many times because we couldn’t afford to continue. Now, with my earnings, I can finally complete it,” he was quoted by TOI as saying.

His journey through medical school was tough. His height made simple classroom activities challenging. During anatomy dissection sessions, professors and classmates ensured he had a front-row seat. In surgery postings, friends even lifted him onto their shoulders so he could observe procedures from above the operating tables.

Baraiya’s path to an MBBS seat was also extraordinary. He did not give up when the Medical Council of India disqualified him from pursuing MBBS owing to his short height some years back.

He then took the help of his school principal, approached the District Collector, the state Education Minister, and then knocked on the doors of the Gujarat High Court.

Even after losing the case at the Gujarat High Court, Dr Baraiya did not lose hope. He approached the top court, won the case in 2018. “In 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that I could get admission to the MBBS course,” he recalled. Since admissions for that year were already over, the court directed that he be admitted in the 2019 batch. He joined Government Medical College, Bhavnagar, where his journey truly began, according to TOI report.

“My friends and professors helped me at every stage. They never let my height limit my learning,” he said.

His soft, childlike voice often surprises patients, but their hesitation doesn’t last long. “Once they hear what I have gone through to become a doctor, they trust me completely,” he said.

Baraiya hopes to specialise in paediatrics, dermatology or radiology, fields where he believes he can contribute most meaningfully.