Pune, Jan 5 (IANS): Veteran social worker Sindhutai Sapkal - known as the 'Mother to thousands of orphans' - passed away following a cardiac arrest, a family friend said.
She was 73, and breathed her last at Galaxy Hospital where she was under treatment for almost a month.
Maai - as she was revered by her foster children, is survived by her sole biological daughter Mamta.
Sindhutai's last rites shall be performed on Wednesday morning at Manjari, near Hadapsar on the outskirts of Pune, the friend said.
She was conferred the Padma Shri award in November 2021 for her selfless services for orphans and abandoned children since nearly five decades.