Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Tuesday that the state government has decided to rename the Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Medical College and Hospital as Barpeta Medical College and Hospital.
Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was the fifth president of the country and the only person from Assam to have held the post.
Sarma claimed at a press conference that the decision was taken because all other government medical colleges in the state “were named in relation to the geographical entities”, such as the Gauhati Medical College and Dhubri Medical College.
“But somehow Barpeta Medical College was named as Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Medical College,” the Bharatiya Janata Party leader said. “That has led to some confusion.”
Sarma claimed that because the college was named after Ahmed, many people would mistakenly believe that the institute was a private one.
The chief minister added that although the state Cabinet has decided to rename the college, it has “also taken a decision to name another institution befitting the stature of former President of India Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed”. He said that the Cabinet has authorised him to do so immediately.
The medical college is affiliated with Srimanta Sankardeva University of Health Sciences. It has been offering undergraduate medical courses since 2012 and postgraduate courses since 2019, PTI reported.
Ahmed was the president from August 24, 1974, to February 11, 1977, and a Union minister in the Indira Gandhi Cabinet.
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