Professor Samanta Lal Sen, known for his work at the national burns institute, says Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s decision to include him in her new cabinet as a minister has taken him by surprise. 

“I am very surprised by this development. I don’t know how much I can do. I work with my [burns institutes]. And now I have a new role. Let me see. I can’t say anything now,” he said in his immediate reaction on Wednesday night. 

The physician has become a familiar name in Bangladesh for his role in the burns unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital and then as the coordinator of the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery amid a spate of arson attacks and major fire incidents.

He is now working as the coordinator of the national burns institutes. 

Pro Sen played a key role in running the burns unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital after the unit’s establishment in 1986 under plastic surgeon Dr Mohammad Shahidullah’s leadership. 

Born in Habiganj in November 1949, he received his MBBS degree from Chattogram Medical College in 1949. He achieved higher degrees in surgery overseas. 

The Bangla Academy honoured him with a fellowship in 2018 for his contribution to medical services. 

He is also president of the Society of Plastic Surgeons of Bangladesh.