Mohammad Gulzar Saifi

Who is Mohammad Gulzar Saifi?

Mohammad Gulzar Saifi is an Indian educator, community organizer and polio survivor in the north Indian city of Meerut in Uttar Pradesh. He was the featured protagonist in the 2009 Academy Award-nominated documentary film, The Final Inch. The short film profiles one of those stricken by polio; and in this way, the documentary establishes a context for global efforts to eradicate the paralysing illness.

Gulzar is a graduate in English from Meerut's Chowdhary Charan Singh University. In part, because of the celebrity status which attended the film, this teacher with a disability has come to earn a living by giving English lessons to about 60 children daily. Gulzar has learned the hard way that "polio is not a disease, it’s a disaster for many ... I was lucky, I had a good family who looked after me but what about those who don’t, those who are abandoned? I appeal to everyone to get their child vaccinated against polio." The title The Final Inch refers to the fact that health officials say polio, which can paralyse a child for life within hours, is on the brink of being controlled.