The University of Delhi plans to establish a Delhi School of Public Health (DSPH) under the Institution of Eminence scheme, the varsity said on Sunday, May 17, 2020.
In its official notification, the varsity also announced a “Research Without Barriers” initiative under the banner of the Institution of Eminence (IoE) to define new contours of widening the research space, and also to change the way research is perceived and carried out along with making it accessible; in addition to democratise and expand the research programme in the country.
The university said the School will be a major step to push its research effort on public health. It will be headed by Professor R.N.K. Bamezai, Former Vice-Chancellor of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University. He is an acclaimed public health expert and a Padma Shri awardee, the varsity said.
The notification also states an Advisory Council consisting of eminent professionals working in the field of public health has been constituted for the planning, designing, and managing of academic activities and programmes of the Delhi School of Public Health. The advisory council will be chaired by Professor K Srinath Reddy, President of Public Health Foundation of India, and Former Head of Department of Cardiology at AIIMS, New Delhi.
A statement issued by the university said, “The Delhi School of Public Health aims to become a premier organisation in the country and globally to initiate research/teaching/outreach programmes in the field of public health by involving researchers from diverse backgrounds such as medicine, biomedical sciences, and social sciences”.
The statement further added, “This novel institution offers new avenues of pooling of academic and infrastructure resources to look at the public health theme in an integrated fashion and contribute to national development.” The motto of the School will be the development of better strategies and technologies and their social impacts to achieve “Health for All”, it added.
The University of Delhi was accorded the special status of Institution of Eminence (IoE) by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India, last year. The IoE is part of a scheme of the HRD Ministry announced in 2018 to select 20 IoEs – 10 public and 10 private – that will enjoy complete academic and administrative autonomy.
