He played a key role in the founding of several institutions and cities like Salt Lake (now a part of Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation), Kalyani, and Durgapur.

[4] Prakash Chandra was a descendant of the family of Maharaja Pradapaditya, the rebel Hindu king of Jessore, but did not inherit much wealth from his ancestors.

[10] Roy believed that swaraj (the call to action for India's freedom) would remain a dream unless the people were healthy and strong in mind and body.

Roy conducted Civil Disobedience in Bengal in 1929 and prompted Pandit Motilal Nehru to nominate him as a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) in 1930.

The CWC was declared an unlawful assembly and Roy along with other members of the committee were arrested on 26 August 1930 and detained at Alipore Central Jail.

Bengal at the time had been torn by communal violence, shortage of food, unemployment and a large flow of refugees in the wake of the creation of East Pakistan.

In an address to the people of West Bengal, Roy said:[12] We have the ability and if, with faith in our future, we exert ourselves with determination, nothing, I am sure, no obstacles, however formidable or insurmountable they may appear at present, can stop our progress... (if we) all work unitedly, keeping our vision clear and with a firm grasp of our problems.On 26 January 1950, Roy took oath as the first Chief Minister of West Bengal in Independent India.

Roy successfully petitioned then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to setup the first institute in West Bengal, on the grounds that the state had the highest concentration of industries at that time.

[13] He was credited for the development of cities like Bidhannagar, Kalyani, and Durgapur, which were crucial for the growth of West Bengal's economy at a time when it was ravaged by the ill consequences of partition.

He had also constituted a trust for his properties at Patna to carry out social service, with eminent nationalist Ganga Sharan Singh (Sinha) being its first trustee.

Today, his private papers are part of the Archives at the Nehru Memorial Museum & Library, at Teen Murti House, Delhi.