GUWAHATI, April 3: Assam Governor Laxman Prasad Acharya on Thursday presented the state’s highest civilian award, ‘Assam Baibhav’, to Lt Gen (Retd) Rana Pratap Kalita at a ceremony held at Srimanta Sankardeva Kalakshetra here.
The Governor also conferred the second-highest award, ‘Assam Saurabh’, to six distinguished personalities, while the third category award, ‘Assam Gaurav’, was presented to 13 persons and three organisations in recognition of their outstanding and exemplary contributions in their respective fields.
The recipients of these prestigious honours are from diverse fields, including defence, academics, science and technology, art and culture, sports, handicrafts, social work, agriculture and allied activities, entrepreneurship, eco-tourism and wildlife conservation.
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Assam Baibhav recipient Lt Gen (Retd) Kalita, awarded for his contribution in the field of defence, is the first person from the Northeast to be appointed as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern command. He is currently the chairman of the 7th Assam State Finance Commission and also a visiting professor at the department of political science and law of Gauhati University.
Among the Assam Saurabh recipients are former CEO and MD of Tata Consultancy Services (TC) Subramaniam Ramadorai for his contribution in the field of academics, Dr Bappi Paul and Dr Purabi Saikia for science and technology, singer Dwipen Baruah and dramatist Hemanta Dutta in the field of art and culture.
Assam and North East India’s first woman cricketer to make it to the Indian national team, Uma Chetry, has been awarded the ‘Assam Saurabh’. However, she was not present at the ceremony, and the award will be handed over to her later at her home in Golaghat by the district commissioner.
Assam Gaurav recipients include Phuleswari Dutta for wildlife conservation, who has over the years protected several species of vultures that have been recognised as critically endangered, biker Meenakshi Das in the field of sports for achieving the feat of traversing solo across 64 countries in 317 days, terracotta artisan Dhirendra Nath Paul for reviving the craft and brass metal artisan Haridas Das for preserving and promoting the art form.
Bodo folk musician Barlangfa Narzary and a musician from the tea tribe community Ramchandra Sashoni were also awarded for their contribution in the field of art and culture.
In the field of social work, Binong Teron was honoured for imparting free education and career counselling to underprivileged students while Nazrul Haque received the award for his contribution in aquaculture, Biswajit Boarh in the field of agriculture and allied sector and Bharat Chandra Kalita for dairy farming.
In the field of startup/MSME, founder of Woolah tea Upamanyu Borkakoty was awarded for pioneering the world’s first plastic-free tea dip, while David Pratim Gogoi was awarded for creating eco-friendly, lightweight and earthquake resistant bricks made from cement, fly ash, pond ash and plastic waste.
Choran Ahem Karbi Ethnic Food Experience Centre near Kaziranga was awarded for their contribution to eco-tourism, Barekuri village for promoting co-existence and nurturing a unique bond with the endangered hoolock gibbons and the NGO Hathibondhu for playing a key role in mitigating human elephant conflicts.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was also present on the occasion and the ceremony was presided by chief secretary Ravi Kota.
A cultural programme, showcasing various Assamese musical genres, including Bihu, was presented on the occasion by Antara and Ankita Nandy, popularly known as the Nandy sisters. (PTI)
