Guwahati, Jan 4: The Assam government has conferred the state’s highest civilian award, ‘Assam Baibhav’ for the year 2023 on eminent medical oncologist Dr Tapan Saikia for his contributions towards generating awareness and early detection of cancer in Assam and the other Northeastern states.
Dr Saikia is the head of Medical Oncology and research director at Prince Aly Khan Hospital since June 2004. Besides, he is also the director of Oncology sciences at Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre, Mumbai.
Formerly the managing director, external examiner at AIIMS, Delhi and Allahabad University, Dr Saikia, who is currently based in Mumbai and hails from Naharkatia in Upper Assam’s Dibrugarh district, is one of the patrons of Deepsikha Foundation.
Apart from being associated with several professional societies and NGOs, he also attends cancer camps in Assam on a regular basis.
“The award, which also carries a cash prize besides various benefits and privileges such as free medical treatment, reservation in Assam Houses/Bhavans, et al, will be presented sometime later in the year after due consultation with the eminent medical oncologist,” chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma informed mediapersons here on Wednesday.
On the other hand, five personalities have been selected for the ‘Assam Saurav’ award for this year.
They include Krishna Roy a pioneer of mobile theatre in Assam; Gilbert Sangma, eminent football player who has represented both the state and the country; Dr Binoy Kumar Saikia, principal scientist at NEIST, Jorhat; Dr Sashidhar Phukan, a medical practitioner; Nayanmoni Saikia, Commonwealth Games gold medalist (lawn bowls).
Besides, 15 personalities have been selected for the ‘Assam Gaurav’ award this year for their contributions in various fields.
They include Dhritimala Deka (public service) Debajit Barman (agriculture and allied composite farming); Rustom Basumatary (tourism); Manje La (agro-tourism); Binanda Hatibaruah (environment and forest), Atul Chandra Baruah (social work), Kalyani Rajbonshi (entrepreneurship/SHG work) Shila Gowala (public service), Dr Jogesh Deuri (agriculture/sericulture); Dr Pankaj Lal Gogoi (entrepreneurship); Sarbeswar Basumatary (agriculture); Manthang Hmar (agriculture and allied fields); Dr Dhrubajyoti Sharma (agriculture and allied fields); Dayal Goswami (Satriya culture and art) and Dr Syed Ifthikar Ahmed (anti-AIDS/anti-drugs campaigner).
The chief minister further said the endeavour has been to select persons for the honour who have made a positive impact on society and people’s lives.
“Apart from recommendations from people, the selection is based on the analysis made by the Cabinet sub-committee and various departments,” he said.