Assam Govt Decides To Change The Name Of Barpeta Medical College

Guwahati : Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said that his government has decided to rename Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Medical College and Hospital as Barpeta Medical College and Hospital.

Informing that a cabinet meeting on Tuesday took this decision, the chief minister told reporters that most government medical colleges in the state are named after the places where they are located.

He asserted, “All our medical colleges are named after their locations. We see that in the medical colleges in Guwahati, Dhubri, Silchar, Bongaigaon, Biswanath and Sonitpur. Somehow, the Barpeta one was named as Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Medical College and Hospital, which does not align with the naming pattern of other medical colleges.”

Pointing out that the cabinet decided to rename the institution to avoid confusion, Mr Sarma argued, “Because of its name, many people thought it to be a private medical college. That is why we decided to change the name and make it Barpeta Medical College and Hospital.”

The chief minister however said that the government would name another institution after former President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed in recognition of his stature.

The chief minister said, “As Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was India's President and the first one from Assam, the cabinet decided that another educational or cultural institution of the same or higher stature will be named after him. We will take a decision in this regard to keep his name alive.”

It is significant that Barpeta Medical College and hospital was established in 2011 and affiliated with with Srimanta Sankardeva University of Health Sciences. The medical college has been offering undergraduate courses since 2012 and postgraduate medical education since 20