13,000km away, Jay Bhattacharya's (Donald Trump's NIH director) family quietly continues with its educational philanthropy
Times of India | 28 March 2025
The Bhattacharyas’ ancestral home in Chandernagore KOLKATA/CHANDERNAGORE: Jay Bhattacharya's confirmation as National Institutes of Health director by the US Senate was closely followed 13,000km away in Shibpur and Chandernagore, where his family continues to fund educational scholarships and donate handsomely for expansion of local schools.
<p>Sripati Bhattacharya funded the auditorium at Sital Prasad Ghosh Adarsha Sikshalaya<br></p>
Such is the respect for the family in Chandernagore that the neighbour who bought their ancestral property has left the interiors untouched, down to the vintage Bakelite switchboards, so that if any of the Bhattacharyas were ever to visit, they would find it the way they had left it.
Jay left for the US when he was just three but scholarships in the name of his father Bishnupada and uncle Sripati continue to help needy students of IIEST Shibpur.
"Jay has a definite Shibpur BE College connection," said Swapan Saha, president of BE College Alumni Scholarship USA Fund. Bishnupada graduated in electrical engineering from BE College (now IIEST) in 1955 and served as a faculty member before moving to the US with his family in the early 1970s. His younger brother, Sripati, graduated from the same department in 1963 and later settled in the US.
About 25 years ago, Sripati donated $ 2,500 to initiate the Bishnupada Bhattacharya Memorial Scholarship at BE College as a tribute to his elder brother.
Bhattacharya family has left its stamp on many Chandernagore institutes
Similarly, in a tribute to Sripati, who died in Nov 2020, his family donated $5,200 in March 2024 to established the Sripati Bhattacharya Memorial Scholarship in the electrical engineering department of IIEST. The two scholarships award Rs 25,000 each to two needy and meritorious student of IIEST every year, said Tultul Roy, office manager of alumni association GAABESU.
<p>Kanailal Vidyamandir’s science building was named after Srikumar Bhattacharya, Jay’s youngest uncle<br></p>
"My husband loved his alma mater immensely. As the founding chairperson of BE College USA Scholarship Fund, he worked tirelessly to support students from his college," said Sripati's wife Shila, who mostly stays in the US now. She added that Jay's father, Bishnupada, was her husband's role model. "When Sripati was appearing for his school final, their father died and Bishnupada supported the family. Sripati initiated the scholarship in Bishnupada's name as a tribute. The two scholarships stand as a testament to the family's enduring commitment to supporting the educational aspirations of deserving students," she said.
Debasis Datta, IIEST Dean of International Relations and Alumni Affairs, said, "It is an extremely proud moment for the institute that Jay Bhattacharya has his roots in Bengal and his father and uncle were alumni of the institution."
Sripati's philanthropic activities included funding a building in Chandernagore's Kanailal Vidya Mandir in the memory of his youngest brother, Srikumar, a brilliant student who died young, contributing for a building at Indumati Girl's School in the memory of his mother Nihar Nalini Devi, and donating for an auditorium at Sital Prasad Ghosh Adarsha Sikshalaya, where brother Ushapati Bhattacharyya taught. "Sripati's mejda Ushapati was fond of theatre. That is why he had an auditorium built in his memory," said Shila. One of his unfulfilled wishes was to set up a free clinic in the name of their father, Jibesh Chandra Bhattacharyya.
Their ancestral home in Chandernagore's Madhyanchal was bought by neighbour Pradip Ghosh a few years ago. "The family is very well-known here for their contribution to education and development. That is why we have kept the interiors of their house unchanged," said Pradip's son Shubham.
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