In Memory of Dr. Keshav Desiraju

September 6, 2021

Image: Twitter

Keshav Desiraju, former Union Health Secretary, a notable leader, and passionate advocate for the mental healthcare policy in India died on September 5th, 2021. He played a key role in developing India’s first National Mental Health Policy (launched in October 2014), and the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI).

“Mental health institutions in the government sector are depressing places which are starved of resources-both human and financial. The bill will provide an enabling structure for the government to provide more resources,” he was quoted in a Lancet report in 2013.

Desiraju was a 1978 batch IAS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre. He was trained at the University of Cambridge and the John F Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. During his tenure as a civil servant, he held positions with the Government of India, the state governments of Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh. He retired as the Union Secretary in the Department of Consumer Affairs.

“Keshav Desiraju’s sudden, untimely death is shocking. A man of many facets with whom discussions were always collegial no matter how strongly opinions differed. A scholar, whose recent biography of M. S. Subbulakshmi is analytical. [Insightful],” tweeted Prof. K. VijayRaghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India.

Keshav Desiraju died on September 5th, 2021 following a heart attack. He was 66 years old.