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Raha Ayurvedic institution should be named after Lokapriya

By Nava Thakuria |

The central healthcare institution on the line of All India Institute of Ayurveda coming up at Raha in central Assam should be named after Lokapriya Gopinath Bardoloi, argues noted Assamese scholar and historian Nirode K. Barooah.

Presently settled in Germany, the author of much acclaimed book ‘Gopinath Bardoloi, the Assam Problem and Nehru's Centre’, requested the Sarbananda Sonowal government at Dispur to initiate for honouring the great political personality of the country.

Barooah asserted that Bardoloi, who was the first ‘prime minister’ of Assam, took personal interest to establish the Assam Ayurvedic College at Jalukbari locality in the outskirt of Guwahati and he along with Dr Bhubaneswar Baruah made a tedious train journey to Banaras to study the functioning of the Ayurvedic College under the Banaras Hindu University.

In a personal communiqué to this correspondent, Barooah also added that Lokapriya was born at Raha of Nagaon district and hence the great saver & administrator of Assam should be honoured by naming the proposed Ayurvedic institution after him.

It may be mentioned that Assam is expecting an All India Institute of Medical Sciences like institution (AIIMS, Assam) in north Kamrup for which the State government had already handed over 571 Bighas of land to the Union government.

“The people of Assam are elated that a world class health institute is coming up which will provide quality health care to them at affordable price. People no longer have to go outside the State for treatment once the health institute comes up, thanks to the laudable initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” said CM Sonowal after handing over the land documents on 28 June.

Reacting to the agitations taking place in different parts of the State for the AIIMS including Raha, the young chief minister clarified that a special Central team decided over the location of AIIMS, Assam in the Changsari locality of Kamrup district.

Meanwhile, the State health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma declared that a central Ayurvedic institution would be established at Raha. He also added that the Centre had asked the State government to provide electricity connection, water supply and construction of the approach road for the project. The minister also committed for few more medical colleges in the State in the coming days.

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Senior journalist based in Guwahati.

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