Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (RMRI), Agamkuan, Patna is one of the permanent Institutes of Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi an autonomous body of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India. The institute is located in the eastern part of the city Patna, i.e. Agamkuan (Goddess Sitla Temple), which is famous for the killing of 99 brothers of Samrat Ashoka, the great king of ancient India. The institute has an area of nine acre of land with research wing, administrative wing and residential quarters for the staff. Its main thrust is research in different aspects of Visceral Leishmaniasis like Clinical, Vector biology and control, Immunological, Biochemical, Molecular biology, Pathological, Parasitological and Social. The institute is named after the memory of the first president of Republic of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad. After the sad demise of Dr. Rajender Prasad due to chest disease in Bihar (India), it was thought to establish an institute in the memory of his name and at that time the major thrust area of research was on the chest diseases.
Dr. Rajendra Prasad was regarded as a proud son from the soil of this state, Bihar. All section and walk of people loved him because of the dynamic personality he possessed and his significant contributions towards freedom movement and the invaluable services to humanity in various capacities to the nation. Soon after the demise of the great national leader in the year 1962, some of the prominent citizens, of Bihar which included medical men, educationists, lawyers, social workers and others formulated an idea drafting a plan of a medical research Institute to be established as a memorial in his name and were subsequently registered under the Societies Act of 1861. Subsequently, the memorial to be erected known as “Rajendra Memorial Research Society for Medical Sciences” was formed on July 2, 1963 and the formal inaugural ceremony for establishment of Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences was made by late Jai Prakash Narayan on December 3, 1963 the birth day of Dr. Rajendra Prasad. The Institute started functioning primarily as a chest institute and the departments for the purpose created were as follow: i.e., Department of Clinical Medicine, Department of Pneumoconiosis, Department of Cardio Respiratory Physiology, Department of Radiology, Department of Pathology, Department of Microbiology, Department of Biochemistry, Department of Pharmacology & Drug Research. In addition, a small Library, Statistical Section, Photography and Workshop were also opened. At the first instance functioning of the outpatient and the clinical department was started. The institute started the research works on Pneumoconiosis and tropical eosinophilia as a tribute to the first president of India as well as the demand of this area at that time. |
