A group of conscientious and eminent citizens of Bengal, drawn by the common zeal for social good and community service, came together in 2008 in Kolkata to form The Bengal. Late Smt Prabha Khaitan and Late Sri Paritosh Sen were the two founding members.

From its inception, The Bengal has been represented by leading men and women who are experts in their respective fields – may it be education, industry, art, culture, fine arts or performing arts – and share a sense of social commitment.

The Bengal, leverages the expertise of professionals and the appeal of the celebs and other outspoken community members to effectively convey key social messages from time to time to the masses and target audience. The organization is driven by the power of knowledge to solve today’s most challenging problems and applies a rigorous analytical approach to improve public policy, inform the public, stimulate civic life and carry out various outreach programmes. The Bengal also acts as a catalyst to empower the common people and espouse the causes of the elderly, women and children and work towards a just society.

The first social event was an anti-terror drive to sensitise the society in collaboration with the Kolkata Police. Since then, The Bengal has conducted many socially relevant programmes on its own and in collaboration with other groups and organizations. The Bengal has also undertaken projects like Pronam – a project for the Senior Citizens to ensure a more secure life for the city’s elderly – in collaboration with the Kolkata Police and financially supported by the Bangur Trust. Currently, over 10,000 senior citizens in Kolkata are registered under Pronam and the number is growing.

With the sudden demise of The Bengal’s President Late Sri Sunil Gangopadhyay in harness last year, The Bengal last year instituted “The Sunil Gangopadhyay Memorial Award”, in his memory for rewarding excellence and outstanding contribution in Bengali literature. The Award consists of a citation and Rs 2 lacs in cash. The first Award for the year 2012-13 would be conferred on eminent poets and literatteur Shri Nirendranath Chakravorty and Sri Shankha Ghosh.

The current composition of The Bengal board includes Sri Hari Mohan Bangur (Chairman), Ms Nabaneeta Dev Sen (President), Mr Jogen Choudhury (Working President), Mr Sundeep Bhutoria (Secretary General).

Board members: Sri Bickram Ghosh, Sri Chuni Goswami, Ms Dona Ganguly, Sri Goutam Ghose, Janab Prof Md Mansoor Alam, Ms Nayantara Palchoudhury, Ms Roopa Ganguly, Ms Usha Uthup

Committee members: Sri Arindam Sil, Ms Arpita Chatterjee, Ms Anandi Ghosh, Sri Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, Ms Ekavalli Khanna, Ms Gargi Roychowdhury, Janab K Jaweed Yusuf and Ms Radhika Singh.