Elite panel to shape Institute of Public Health

An enviable ensemble of academics -led by Amartya Sen and belonging to iconic institutes like MIT, University College London and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine -will now help set up and shape Bengal’s first Institute of Public Health.

West Bengal Chief minister Mamata Banerjee will give shape to the ambitious project, which is expected to come up in Kalyani, during her upcoming maiden visit to the UK. An MoU will be signed between the state and the top British institutions and academics on Monday.

Mamata Banerjee has handpicked the illustrious governing body of the institute. Apart from Sen, the panel will include former health secretary of India Sujatha Rao, Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee from MIT, Grant Miller from Stanford School of Public Health and Michael Mermet from University College London.

World-class Public Health Institute coming up in Bengal

The West Bengal Government has decided to constitute a global advisory group for developing an institute of public health at Nadia’s Kalyani. The group will comprise Nobel laureate Amartya Sen and other educationists who are experts in public health. The institute will be developed as a world-class global centre of education and research in public health.

“An Institute of Public Health is being set up at Kalyani, Nadia. The Institute will develop as a global centre to address key areas of education, research and policy formulations in public health and related subjects,” Mamata Banerjee posted on facebook on Wednesday.

Mamata added, “To make the Institute a world-class centre, we have decided to constitute a Global Advisory Group with eminent persons. They are Prof. Dr. Amartya Sen, Prof Abhijit Binayak Banerjee of MIT, Prof. Sir Michael Marmot, Director, University College of London Institute of Health Equity, Prof. Lincoln Chenn, Chairman, China Medical Board in US, Harvard School of Public Health, Massachusetts, Prof. Grant Miller, Director, Stanford Centre for International Development, Prof. K. Srinath Reddy, President Public Health Foundation of India and Ms. K. Sujatha Rao, Ex Union Health Secretary.”

The state is developing Kalyani as a theme-based township. The town already has several plots earmarked for residential and commercial purposes. The CM has named the theme township ‘Samriddhi’

The government recently took the decision to set up the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Kalyani. The government has allotted 180 acres of land, worth Rs 57 crore, to set up the hospital.

Besides this, the state will develop Kalyani as an analytical city covering over 50 acres of land. Bengal expects to draw Rs 3000 crore of investment from the project.