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Biography
Indira Chakravarty is an Indian public health specialist, scholar and environmentalist. The Government of India honoured her, in 2014, by awarding her the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for her contributions to the fields of public health and environment.
Biography
Chakravarty hails from West Bengal and secured a doctoral degree (PhD) in Biochemistry from Calcutta University. This was followed by a second doctoral degree (DSc). She has been active in the food safety and hygiene milieu of India and the world in general, and has participated in 30 research projects. She has been involved with two projects of the World Health Organization (WHO) such as the World Summit for Children and the Hunger Project. Some of the studies conducted by Dr. Chakravarty, such as the one she conducted on the street vendors of Calcutta, have led to policy changes and new initiatives at the government level. A Global Council member of the International Museum of Women (IMOW), Dr. Chakravarty has held many positions of importance such as:
- Chief Advisor - Public Health Engineering Department, Government of West Bengal
- Member - National Drinking Water and Sanitation Council, Government of India
- Board Member - International Institute of Global Health, United Nations University
- Former Member - Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, Government of India
- Former Regional Director, South Asia - Micronutrient Initiative - International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
- Former Director and Dean - All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Government of India
- Former Director - Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute, Government of India
- Former Regional Advisor Nutrition(Act) - Regional Office for South East Asia, World Health Organization
- Regional Coordinator - Asian Regional Centre on Street Foods - Food and Agriculture Organization
- Honorary Scientific Advisor - Foundation for Community Support and Development (FCSD)
- Consultant - World Summit for Children - World Health Organization
Dr. Chakravarty is credited with one book and over 250 articles, published in national forums and international journals.
- Indira Chakravarty (1972). Saga of Indian Food A Historical and Cultural Survey. Sterling Publishers. p. 183. ASIN B0000CQ98Q.
- Indira Chakravarty, R K Sinha (2002). "Prevalence of micronutrient deficiency based on results obtained from the national pilot program on control of micronutrient malnutrition". Nutr. Rev. 6 (5): 553–558.
Her efforts have earned Dr. Chakravarty many awards and honours. The Food and Agriculture Organization awarded the first Edourdo Souma Award to Dr. Chakravarty. She is also a recipient of the Indira Gandhi National Priyadarshini Award of the All India National Unity Council (AINUC) and the Global Leadership Award of the University of South Florida, the highest international honour of the university. She has also featured in The Multimedia Encyclopedia of Women in Today's World. The Government of India recognized her services by including her in the 2014 Republic Day honours.
