The Assam government awarded Lovlina and 16 others, including Covid-19 warriors, artists, and agri-entrepreneurs, the state’s highest civilian honours on Monday.
Tokyo Olympics medallist Lovlina Borgohain, Covid-19 warriors and agri-entrepreneurs were among the 17 distinguished personalities presented with Assam’s highest civilian honour on Monday.
Governor Jagdish Mukhi handed over the awards at a ceremony held at Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra in Guwahati. This is the first time the Assam government has introduced a new set of civilian awards on the lines of the Padma awards.
Industrialist Ratan Tata, who was named for the highest honour- Assam Baibhav-and distinguished management guru Dipak Chand Jain, (named for Assam Saurav-the second highest honour) who couldn’t attend the event would be conferred their awards later.
“It’s a big day today. The state’s highest civilian awards will be bestowed on individuals, mostly from grassroots and selected through citizen-centric process, for their distinguished service to society. I hope the recognition inspires others to the cause of building a New Assam,” Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma tweeted.
Besides Lovlina and Jain, distinguished educationist and scientist Kamalendu Deb Krori, bureaucrat Dr S Lakshmanan and renowned artist Neel Pawan Baruah were conferred with the Assam Saurav awards.
Along with a citation and a medal, the awards– Assam Baibhav, Assam Saurav and Assam Gaurav– carry a cash component of Rs 5 lakh, Rs 4 lakh and Rs 3 lakh respectively.
Those who received the Assam Gaurav awards were Munindra Nath Ngatey, Dr Basanta Hazarika, Akash Jyoti Gogoi, Manoj Basumatary, Khorsing Terang, Boby Hazarika, Hemoprabha Chutia, Namita Kalita, Barmita Momin, Dharanidhar Boro, Kaushik Boruah, Kalpana Boro and Dr Asif Iqbal.
The first set of awards honoured several of the state’s Covid-19 warriors. They included Dr Lakshmanan and Ngatey, bureaucrats who played key roles in executing Covid-19 measures and mass vaccination, and Dr Hazarika, who was key in preparing and executing Covid-19 protocols and managed nearly 3,000 critical Covid-19 patients in Guwahati Medical College Hospital.
Namita Kalita, an auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM) who has administered nearly 100,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses, and Barmita Momin, an accredited social health activist (ASHA) who ensured 100 per cent Covid-19 vaccination in a village that had earlier forced her to pay a fine as punishment for taking the vaccine were other Covid-19 warriors who were honoured.
Manoj Bausmatary, who set up an eco-system for piggery as an industry in Assam, Kaushik Baruah, who is responsible for starting export of fruits and vegetables produced in the state to Dubai and European markets, and Akash Jyoti Gogoi, who established one of Northeast’s biggest egg production unit were the agri-entrepreneurs conferred with the Assam Gaurav award.
