Biswanath Chariali, Sept 19: Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal laid the foundation stone of the proposed engineering college at Jarabari, Balipukhuri village under Behali LAC in Biswanath district on Wednesday. Addressing a public gathering on the occasion, Sonowal said that the Department of Higher Education, Government of Assam, would take all possible steps to develop the proposed engineering college with latest modern amenities and infrastructure and assured the public to make this institution a world-class technical institute. For this, he asked for cooperation and help from the local people for its development.
He hoped that the institution would inspire the students of the north bank of the Brahmaputra River in their academic pursuits. Sonowal in his speech also criticized the previous Congress government for neglecting the region in terms of development.
Saying that the Union Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid special emphasis on equal development of people living on both the banks of the Brahmaputra River, he highlighted the initiatives taken up for improvement of communication through construction of several number of bridges over the mighty Brahmaputra. He, moreover, said that the proposed Behali Engineering College, B.Ed College at Biswanath, which would start functioning soon, and ICAR at Gogamukh reflected the deep commitment of the Central and State governments for ushering equitable development in the State.
Chief Minster Sonowal also highlighted the initiatives undertaken by his government for the development of the education sector in the State. The proposed engineering college is likely to be named after freedom fighter Sabilal Upadhyay of Behali.
State Education Minister Siddhartha Bhattacharya said that the State Government took steps to open science stream in 50 Arts and Commerce colleges keeping in view the importance of science and technology in today’s age. He also informed that steps were also taken for setting up engineering colleges in different parts of the State by the State Government. He also assured the people to consider their demand to name the proposed engineering college in the name of noted freedom fighter and social worker, Chabilal Upadhyay.
Principal Secretary of Higher Education, Maninder Singh said that 100 bigha land was allotted for setting up the engineering college at Behali with a financial outlay of Rs. 55 crore as per DPR prepared by the Public Works Department. The meeting was also attended by State Handloom and Textile Minister Ranjit Dutta, State Labour Minister Pallav Lochan Das, MLAs Padma Hazarika, Pramod Borthakur and Utpal Borah, and Biswanath Deputy Commissioner Dhiraj Jyoti Kalita, among others.