National Doctor's Day Special- Celebrating Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy: Least Explored Journalist of India

Today, the medical practitioners in the Indian subcontinent celebrate the anniversary of Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy as one of the most successful doctors in the modern history. He was born on 1st July 1882 in Bankipore in Patna to the family of the excise inspector Prakash Chandra Roy and Aghore Kamini Devi. In those days, Patna used to be a part of United Bengal.

As such, Vidyapati was also referred to as the poet of Bengal instead of Mithila and Bihar. He was the chief minister of West Bengal for more than an era by the time he left for the heavenly abode on 1st July 1962 in Kolkata. And before that the government of India conferred him with Bharat Ratna, the top civilian honour on 4th February 1961.

Moreover, the former prime minister Narsimha Rao initiated the celebration of his anniversary as the National Doctor’s Day in 1991. Roy still represents the aspirations of young India, and one can say it after analysing the repeated paper leak scandals.

In 1901, he applied for the Bengal Engineering College and the Calcutta Medical College after graduation with honours in Mathematics from the Patna University. Both institutions accepted his application, but Roy preferred study of medicine over technology, and it seems equally opposite when he tried to enroll at St Bartholomew’s Hospital for the fellowship in 1909.

Being an Asian student, his application remained rejected 30 times in Britain, and his sheer perseverance reflected at last when he returned back with the FRCP (Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians) and FRCS (Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons) in 1911. Roy joined the health department of the British Indian government in addition to teaching at the Calcutta Medical College.

Almost a century ago in 1925, Roy had defeated the grand old man of Bengal, Surendranath Banerjee in the election for the Bengal Legislative Council from Barrackpore seat. His political acumen and maturity began to reflect since the same elections.

Although, he was an independent candidate, certain leaders like Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das and Motilal Nehru along with the cadres of Swaraj Party and the Congress came into his support.

The same year, he had tabled a resolution to recommend the study of causes of pollution in the Hoogly River and to suggest measures to prevent it in the future. On one hand it reflected his attitude towards the mother nature and far-sighted vision, and on the other the state of the river which has been waiting for her saviour for a century now.

Roy was one of the descendants of Pratapaditya Guha, the 16th and 17th century landlord and ruler of Jessore in Bangladesh. His father used to be an ardent supporter of the Brahmo Samaj leaders Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Dwarkanath Tagore and Kesab Chandra Sen.

Kalyani is yet another part of his story. After the Second World War, he planned an industrial township known as Kalyani on the abandoned air base of the US Army Air Force. It’s situated fifty kilometres apart from Kolkata in Nadia district and also a part of the KMDA (Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority). But the two institutions situated here, the Bidhan Chandra Agriculture University and the University of Kalyani have failed to depict the romanticism behind it.

He was the mayor of Calcutta for the two years in the early thirties. After the independence and the partition, Roy became the head of West Bengal on the advice of Mahatma Gandhi exactly on birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on 23rd January 1948.

His leadership and popularity increased further, since he regularly spared time for the ailing patients from different backgrounds. Among the list of his patients one can find not only likes of Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru and President Kennedy, but also an unknown or uncared poor person, due to that he had earned the world record of the largest practice. So far as private practice is concerned, it's almost impossible to expect another Dr BC Roy in this age of corporate world.

Roy is known to build numerous institutions. He established the Indian Medical Association in 1928 and was a key figure behind the Indian Medical Council Act of 1933, and the establishment of the Medical Council of India (now known as National Medical Commission) next year.

He also played a significant role in the establishment of Indian Institute of Mental Health, the Infectious Disease Hospital and Kolkata’s first-ever postgraduate medical college, in addition to Jadavpur T.B. Hospital, Chittaranjan Seva Sadan, Kamala Nehru Memorial Hospital, Victoria Institution (college), and Chittaranjan Cancer Hospital.

After his demise, the B.C. Roy National Award was instituted in memory. Every year it recognises excellent contributions in areas of medicine, politics, science, philosophy, arts and literature since 1976. Roy is credited for the development of cities like Bidhan Nagar, Durgapur, Howrah, etc. There is a list of the monuments in his memory.

Roy’s contribution to healthy and vibrant press is one of the least explored aspects of his life and works. After the Second World War, the Indian division of the Associated Press metamorphosed into the Press Trust of India, and likes of certain nationalist leader Purushottam Das Tondon asked for a vernacular news agency as its consequence.

The first press commission (1952-54) headed by Justice J.S. Rajadhyaksha in its report recommended to establish a Press Council and a wage board for working journalists. During the same period, demand for the native news agency got momentum. Here, Bidhan Chandra Roy came with the solution.

Bidhu Bhushan Sengupta started the United Press of India in 1933, after the resignation from the Free Press Journal. Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy used to be a key figure in this venture. In 1959, he started the UNI with its 13 rusted teleprinters, and the news agency finally started its commercial services in 1961 after the twenty media houses invested the sum of a million bucks.

Dr. Roy played a key role to bring the ABP on the board with the 27 per cent stake. Today, the agency has been giving services in English, Hindi, Urdu and Kannada languages. The UNI is waiting for another Bidhan Chandra Roy or someone with the bail out package worth a hundred crore rupees. This brainchild of Dr BC Roy deserves the attention of his admirers and followers.