Dr. Kalyan Bagchi passed away on IOth January 2011 at the age Of 90. With his passing a host Of friends, colleagues and associates lost a mentor, a teacher and a leading nutritionist who constantly kept the issue of child malnutrition centre-stage in all his scholarly pursuits.
A medical doctor by profession he started his career at the All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Kolkata in the early fifties and then proceeded to England where he obtained a Ph.D in clinical nutrition working with the eminent nutritionist Dr. Benjamin Platt. Upon return he rose to become a Professor at the AIIH&PH and was subsequently handpicked to the post of Nutrition Advisor in the Government of India, a position he held with aplomb; during his tenure he shaped some key nutrition policies for the country, especially on micronutrients which still continue. He was associated with Rural Medicare Society since its early days as a member and then headed it as its President (1997-2003). It was during his tenure as President that the society succeeded in getting a major grant from the Govt. of Japan which proved a watershed in Rural Medicare Centre’s infrastructure capacities. He was always available to the doctors of Rural Medicare Centre as a friend and guide and the hospital owes a lot to him for its present position.
RELEASE OF BOOK
Release of “Memoirs of a Rural Surgeon-Turning point of medical practice”
A book authored by Dr. J.K.Banerjee ex-President of Rural Medicare Society and Association of Rural Surgeons of India was released by Bharat Ratna Prof. A.P.J.Abul Kalaam ex-President of India in a small and dignified function at his residence attended by members of Rural Medicare Society.