Staff Reporter
Guwahati: The Assam Cabinet today decided to honour Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Rana Pratap Kalita with the Assam Baibhav award, the highest civilian award of Assam, for 2024. The names of the Assam Saurav and Assam Gaurav awardees were also announced.
This was revealed by Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma after the cabinet meeting this evening. Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Rana Pratap Kalita, a son of Assam, served as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of the Indian Army’s Eastern Command.
The Assam Saurav will be awarded to the founding chairman of TCS, Subramaniam Ramadorai of Tamil Nadu; two scientists of Assam—Dr. Bappi Paul and Dr. Purabi Saikia; singer Dwipen Baruah; mobile theatre dramatist Hemanta Dutta; and woman cricketer Uma Chetry. Subramaniam Ramadorai was associated with the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) in Guwahati as the director for six years.
The winners of the Assam Gaurav award are Phuleswari Dutta (vulture conservation); Meenakshi Das (woman biker); Partib Sundar Gogoi (prominent footballer); Dhirendra Nath Paul (terracotta artiste); Haridas Das (bell metal artiste); Binong Teron (free coaching for competitive exams); Nazrul Hoque (aquaculture); Biswajit Bora (integrated agricultural farming); Bharat Kalita (milk revolution); Barlangfa Narzary (Bodo literature and culture); Ram Sasoni (tea community folk dance); Upamanyu Borkakoty (startup); and David Pratim Gogoi (startup).
For the first time, three institutions/communities will be awarded with Assam Gaurav. They are Choran Ahem of the Nagaon district for eco-tourism, Barekuri Village of the Tinsukia district for wildlife conservation, and Hati Bondhu NGO of the Nagaon district also for wildlife conservation.
According to the CM, the awards will be presented by Assam Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya on March 30, 2025.
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