Bidhan Ranjan Roy Poddar

Bidhan Ranjan Roy Poddar is a Bangladeshi psychiatrist, academic, writer, and government adviser. He currently serves as an adviser to the Interim government of Bangladesh.

Early life

Poddar was born in 1963 to a Hindu family of Rai Poddars in Madhyanagar, Sunamganj subdivision, Sylhet district, East Pakistan. He is the eldest among the three sons of Dr. Gopi Ranjan Roy Poddar and Madhavilata Roy Poddar. His father provided free healthcare services to poor people in the Bangshikunda, Chamardani and Madhyanagar areas, and was called the Gariber Daktar or Doctor of the Poor. He was a leftist politician and a leader of the Kshetamajur Committee.
Poddar attended the Government Jubilee High School where he received his Secondary School Certificate in 1979, and completed his Higher Secondary Certificate from Dhaka College in 1981. He studied medicine at the Sir Salimullah Medical College in Dhaka, receiving his MBBS degree in 1988.

Career

Poddar was a professor of psychiatry at Mymensingh Medical College. He had a chamber in the Mymensingh Union Specialized Hospital Limited. He specialised in drug addiction, mental health, and sexual diseases. Poddar was later director of the National Institute of Mental Health and Hospital's department of psychiatry.
On 11 August 2024, Poddar and Supradip Chakma took oath as the advisers of the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus. President Mohammed Shahabuddin administered their oath in the Durbar Hall of Bangabhaban.
Hailing from the minority of the country, he is the Hindu member in the Interim government.

Works

Samajik Chetanar Manastwatta
Adhunikata O Amra
Sigmund Freud O Afreudiya Freudbadigan