| K. B. Desai | |
| Birth Name: | Khandubhai Bhimbhai Desai |
| Birth Date: | 3 September 1897 |
| Birth Place: | Sarbhan, Bombay Presidency, British India (now Gujarat, India) |
| Death Place: | Navsari, Gujarat, India |
| Nationality: | Indian |
| Occupation: | Medical doctor |
| President of Navsari Municipal Council | |
| Party: | Congress |
| Spouse: | Lilavati Desai |
K. B. Desai (3 September 1897 – 5 November 1979) was an Indian medical doctor, a local leader of Congress from Navsari during the Indian independence movement, and a social reformer. He was a Gandhian.
Vallabhbhai Patel was imprisoned in the wake of the Salt March in 1930. Desai acted as a spokesperson for Mahatma Gandhi in Navsari, organizing the local police as a strategy to help release Patel. He was imprisoned on multiple occasions for his role in the freedom struggle.[1] [2] [3]
After independence in 1947, he served as President of Navsari Municipal Council (Nagarpalika Pramukh).[4]
Desai graduated with an M.B.B.S. from Bombay (Mumbai) in 1922. He obtained further medical training from Dublin and Vienna. Desai provided surgical, obstetric, dental and non-surgical care. He built and ran K. B. Desai Hospital in Navsari.[5] [6] [7]
Desai was actively involved in social reform movements. He opposed the caste system, admitting patients of all castes to his hospital and serving them food from a single kitchen using one set of utensils.[8]