Laying stress on the development of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) – an autonomous council for Bodoland Territorial region, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma Tuesday said his government would observe the birthday of prominent Bodo leader Upendranath Brahma on March 31 as ‘Chatra Divas’ or Student Day.
The CM, who was in Kokrajhar in Assam for holding a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, visited the residence of Brahma at Dotoma before his official engagements. He spent some time with the Bodo leader’s family members, enquired about their well-being and assured them of all government support.
He recalled Brahma’s contribution towards the socio-economic empowerment of the Bodos and paid tributes at his burial ground at Thulungapuri in Dodoma.
The CM laid the foundation stone for the infrastructure development of the burial ground under the special infrastructure development project for Rs 10 crore.
Upendranath Brahma, one of the tallest figures in the Bodo community, was posthumously conferred with ‘Bodofa’ – a title meant to indicate him as guardian of the Bodos. He died of a terminal disease at 34 years of age in 1990.
Sarma later tweeted, “In honour of the contribution of Bodofa towards socio-economic & cultural empowerment of Bodo community, our Govt has decided to observe his birthday on March 31 every year as Chatra Divas. BTC Chief @PramodBoroBTR, Cabinet colleagues, MLAs, BTC EMs & members too were present”.
For the first time the Assam government was holding its Cabinet meeting at Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) Secretariat in Kokrajhar.
Later in the day, the Assam CM inaugurated Bodoland Administrative Staff College at Gaurang Cultural Complex at Kokrajhar.
“This will help in improving the administrative acumen among BTR staff and train them in several facets of administration, particularly in 6th Schedule & Autonomous Council administration,” he tweeted.
On the sidelines of his Kokrajhar visit, Sarma also visited the construction site of Kokrajhar Medical College and reviewed its progress.
He also asked the construction agency to ensure the timely completion of work and adhere to all building protocols.
The CM also laid the stone for ‘VCDC Bhawan’ with 229 Village Council Development Committee (VCDC) offices at Kokrajhar.
VCDC is a local self-government organisation based in the Bodo Territorial region.
“An amount of Rs 25 lakh has been earmarked for the construction of each 229 VCDC office under Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan,” Sarma tweeted.
