Assam Gaurav award bestowed to 17 personalities in various fields

The Assam Gaurav, the third highest civilian award of the state, was bestowed to a total of 17 personalities from various fields. 

The awards were given away at a ceremony which was held at the Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra in Guwahati. The award was conferred upon the recipients by Governor Gulab Chand Kataria. Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar also attended the event as the chief guest. 

The recipients who were conferred the award are: 

1. Ranjit Gogoi for Art and culture (Folk & Bihu Dance Exponent)
2. Parvati Barua for Environment& Forest (Animal conservation activist, Human-Elephant conflict expert)
3. Debojit Changmai for Art and Culture (Sound Engineer)
4. Drono Bhuyan for Art and Culture (Oja Pali)
5. Neelam Dutta for Agriculture (Organic Farming)
6. Anupam Deka for Entrepreneur (Industrialist)
7. Soumyadeep Dutta for Environment& Forest (Wildlife Conservation)
8. Basanta Chiring Phukan for Agriculture (Progressive Mushroom Cultivator)
9. Manendra Deka for Craft and Bamboo artist (Handicraft)
10. Meenakshi Chetia for ASHA Worker (Social Service)
11. Pakhila Lekhtepi for Art and Culture (Karbi Folk Singer)
12. Tenzing Bodosa for Environment& Forest (Elephant friendly Tea Estate Establishment)
13. Nirmal Dey for Entrepreneur (Shital Pati)
14. Jecin Kumbang Pao for Handlooms (Weaving)
15. Mary Hassa for AWC (Social Service)
16. Upendra Rabha    for Agriculture (Black Rice Cultivator)
17. Rahul Gupta for Agriculture (Hydroponic Farming)

Prior to this, former Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi, was conferred with the Assam Baibhab, the highest civilian honour of the state. 

Meanwhile, the Assam Saurav award was conferred upon four personalities. The award was given to Elvis Ali Hazarika and Hima Das received the award for their contribution in the field of sports, and archaeologist Dr Kishan Chand Nauriyal for Art and Culture and Tiwa dance exponent Nadiram Deuri for Art & Culture. 

The awards, which are the civilian awards conferred by the Assam government, are done in the same pattern as the Bharat Ratna and Padma Awards, the highest civilian awards given by the Government of India.