OUR CORRESPONDENT
TEZPUR: Speaker of Assam Legislative Assembly Biswajit Daimary on Tuesday visited several places of historical importance in and around Tezpur - Garh Doul, Da-Parbatia gate, Bamuni Hills, Agnigarh - and inspected these sites along with senior officials from the Archaeological Survey of India and the Directorate of Archaeology, Government of Assam. Also present during his visit were MLA of Tezpur, Prithiraj Rabha, MLA of Borsola Ganesh Limboo, MLA of Rangapara, Krishna Kamal Tanti, DC Bhupesh Chandra Das and other officials of the district administration.
The visit is part of a preliminary survey for various new schemes and initiatives to be taken up under the newly-formed Indigenous Faith and Culture department formed by the Government of Assam, as decided during a cabinet meeting in the month of July this year.
After this, the Speaker also chaired a meeting with leading citizens of Tezpur from various fields, held at the conference hall of the DC's office here on Tuesday, and discussed in detail the roadmap to be followed by the newly-formed department which will be dedicated to preserve the rich historical and cultural legacy of the State. In the meeting, the Speaker gave a detailed overview of the initiatives to be taken under the aegis of this department and sought suggestions and comments from all the prominent citizens present in the meeting.
In his address, the Speaker informed that the department, which had been created for promotion, formulation and implementation of policies and programmes for welfare and all-round development of the indigenous and tribal people of the State, would also work towards facilitating further research and study in this aspect. As part of this, a team under his leadership will visit all districts of the State and hold an interaction with leading citizens, intellectuals, researchers to chalk out a roadmap for the department, he informed. Tezpur is the first place the team has visited, as it is strewn with places of historical importance reflecting the glorious civilization that once thrived in this area.
"The rest of the country needs to know the stories associated with Tezpur – the legendary Harihar war, the story of Usha-Aniruddha, its link to Lord Krishna – all of which find mention in the Mahabharata," the Speaker said mentioning that it would spark a lot of interest among researchers in this field.
In the meeting, it was decided to form a committee under the chairmanship of the Deputy Commissioner, which will submit a detailed report on all the historical and cultural resources present in the district to the government through the Speaker. The Directorate of Archaeology, Directorate of Museums and Directorate of Historical and Antiquarian Studies will come under the aegis of the Department of Indigenous Faith and Culture.
Later, the Speaker also held a separate meeting with the officials of Archaeological Survey of India and Directorate of Archaeology, Government of Assam and discussed on the preliminary actions to be taken in this regard.
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