GUWAHATI, Jan 31 � Keeping alive its decade long tradition, the Education Research & Development Foundation (ERDF) honoured 14 eminent senior citizens of Assam for their outstanding contributions in different fields of public life. Those who received their 'Excellence Award 2014' at the RIST auditorium on the outskirts of Guwahati on Saturday morning were DN Bezbaruah (journalist), Tayabun Nisha (athlete), Prof Anil Kumar Goswami (scientist), Dr Lakhyahira Das (lyricist and singer), Isfaqur Rahman Borborah (social worker), Prof MH Hazarika (genetic engineer), Prof Ashok Kumar Goswami (Sanskrit scholar), Dr UK Sharma (educationist), Dr Nirupama Mahanta (Gandhian activist) and GL Agarwalla (media person).
Radhika Mohan Bhagawati, Col Monoranjan Goswami, Dr DN Buragohain and Justice Aftab Hussain Saikia could not attend the function due to preoccupations. Their awards would be handed over later, it was announced.
Earlier, welcoming the dignitaries and guests to the function, Mahbubul Hoque, Chairman ERDF and Chancellor USTM said, �The tendency in our society is that senior citizens who toiled all their life to make life better for others are often forgotten after the prime of their life. To reverse this trend, we have started giving the Excellence Awards to outstanding senior citizens of Assam for nearly a decade now. Very soon we are going to extend this programme in Meghalaya also.�
Prof SK Sopory, Vice Chancellor, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) New Delhi, who was the chief guest on the occasion and gave away the awards, lauded the initiative of ERDF and said, �We have many lessons to learn from this award ceremony. On one hand, it is an inspiration for the upcoming generation, and on the other it is a declaration of our gratefulness to the senior citizens who gave their best time and energy for us to live with peace and honour today.� About ERDF, he said, �Education is the best gift that we can give to people, and ERDF is just doing that and doing it with sincerity and excellence. I will certainly look forward to opportunities in which JNU and ERDF could work together for common good of our people.�
After the acceptance speech by the awardees, Dr NK Choudhury, principal adviser to ERDF, HN Das, former Chief Secretary Assam and PJ Barua, Executive Editor, The Assam Tribune also addressed the gathering.
In a post lunch programme, Prof SK Sopory participated in an interactive session with faculty and students of USTM and Cotton College, Guwahati.
