A new premises of the Management Centre for Human Development (MCHD), a unit of Prof. Shitangshu Kumar Chakraborty Memorial Trust, was inaugurated recently in south Kolkata to carry forward the legacy of the pioneering institution dedicated to promoting value-based management, leadership, sustainable development, and spiritual-material harmony.

Recently a building was purchased in the Kalighat area by the Trust that runs MCHD so that it can have its own premises with minimal institutional facilities and establishment.

A residential building has been renovated and transformed into a modest institutional infrastructure by  Kesabendra Sen, a renowned architect.

The new MCHD building is in the august stone throwing distance of Gadadhar Ashram and Ramakrishna Math.

MCHD aspires to build its own campus in due course and start a world class Values Based Management School. The Trust also hopes to spread its wings in different parts of the country.

Prof. Shitangshu Kumar Chakraborty (SKC) of IIM Calcutta, carried out his mission of bringing in India’s indigenous concepts into the professional Indian Management, both in theory and in practice, since early 1980’s and while doing so, he developed a body of literature which has been his pioneering contribution.

After his sudden demise in September 2018, at the initiative of Prof. Bidyut Kumar Sarakar, Dr. Subir Chowdhury, former Director of IIM Calcutta and (late) Mrs. Chhanda Chakraborty, wife of SKC, a Trust was set up in July 2019, to carry forward his legacy.

The Trust has been carrying forward its mission mainly through academic activities in the areas of Human Values, Ethics, Leadership, Environment & Sustainability, Stress Management, Creativity with a focus on Indian ethos.

At the inauguration, in his welcome-address, Dr. Chowdhury outlined the importance of having such a Centre in today’s society.

Srimat Swami Muktikamanandaji Maharaj of Gadadhar Ashram discussed the role of material and spiritual development in human transformation in his address of benediction; Prof. Mukherjee, in his key-note address on ‘Human Values in Creativity & Sustainability’ highlighted the relevance of Prof. Chakraborty’s thoughts in this very important topic. 

Prof. Sarkar conducted the programme and delivered the vote of thanks in which he highlighted his long association with Prof. Chakraborty and pointed out among other things the planned activities of the Centre in near future viz. a programme on Prānāyām & Meditation by Dr. Sumitra Mitra Ghosh, specific academic research by research associates, and other ongoing efforts.

Kaberi Mukherjee, mesmerised the audience with her melodious voice during the opening and closing songs. Dr. Ashok Banerji, Dr. Shib Narayan Sen, Parijat Mukherjee and others played a very important role in making the programme a success.

MCHD Works

So far, at the behest of the Trust, Prof. Sarkar & Dr. Debangshu Chakraborty, son of Prof. Chakraborty, have conducted fourteen online Executive Development Programmes.

Of the programmes, seven each were in the areas of Stress Management & Indian Leadership Model, developed by Prof. Chakraborty, for NTPC & Power Grid Corporation.

Three monographs, two books and 81 articles/papers were published in various journals by Prof. Sarkar; one monograph was composed by Satyajit Panda of NTPC.

A scholarly book was edited by Prof. Sanjoy Mukherjee of IIM Shillong and Prof. Laszlo Zsolnai of Corvinus University of Budapest, dedicated to the memory of Prof. Chakraborty. It was published by Springer Nature in which 40 erudite scholars from across the world contributed.

A WhatsApp group of admirers, well-wishers and students of Prof. Chakraborty was formed which has remained lively since then.

To propagate Prof. Chakraborty’s vision and mission to the society at large, an initiative was taken in 2024, mainly by Dr. Chowdhury, in which it was proposed to gradually develop the Centre, as a focused unit of the Trust for research-based training programmes and structured educational programmes, broadly covering the areas of Body-Mind Synchronisation, Human Values, Indian Ethos, Stress Management, Leadership, Environment Management and Sustainable Development.