NEW DELHI, July 14 — The President, Mr K.R. Narayanan, today presented the prestigious Dr B.C. Roy National Awards for 1998-99 at the Rashtrapati Bhavan to doctors of the country for their contribution to the medical stream.

The Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, was presented the award in the category of medicalman-cum-statesman. He was presented Rs 1 lakh and a silver salver.

Among the awardees was Dr Y.K. Chawla, Professor and Head of the Hepatology at the PGI, Chandigarh. Dr Chawla was the recipient of the award for his outstanding work in the field of medical and allied sciences. He was also presented a cash award of Rs 1 lakh along with a silver salver.

Two other doctors from the PGI Chandigarh were among the awardees. Dr Siddartha Majumdar, Head of the Department of Experimental Medicine and Biotechnology, and Dr Sudha Suri, Professor and Head of the Department of Radio-Diagnosis were presented the award for oration and recognition of best talents in encouraging the development of specialisation in different branches of medicine, respectively.

In all there were 33 recipients. Also among the awardees was Dr (Brig) M.L. Kataria for socio-medical relief. Dr Kataria has to his credit running of nine charitable health-care centres in Chandigarh and in rural and slum areas of Punjab and Haryana.

Dr Hari Gautam, Chairman of the UGC, and Prof Upendra Kaul of Batra Hospital here in New Delhi were also awarded.