AMGURI, under the historical Sivasagar district has witnessed much struggle in the field of education. It is the place to which a number of noted persons from different fields such as �Maharathi� Chandra Prasad Saikia (litterateur), Khagen Borborua, Mahendra Hazarika, Chandra Kanta Bhuyan (social activist), Dr Jayanti Chutia (scientist), Ajit Kumar Bhuyan (journalist), Anjan Dutta, Pradip Hazarika (politician), Binanda Borah, Goutom Dutta (sports) belonged to and in this historically and literary rich place a higher educational institution i.e. Amguri College was established in 1967. This Amguri College, the one and only higher educational institution in the place is celebrating its golden jubilee on December 10,11 and 12 .
It is always a matter of great happiness and triumph when an institution completes fifty years. Celebrating fifty years is itself an exclusive anniversary. It is a special occasion for taking stock of good and great things. It is the occasion that all from general public to teachers, employees and students, from founder members to ex-students, from principal to the fourth grade employee, who by heart and soul belong to the college have good reasons to be proud of.
Every institution has an objective behind its establishment. Amguri College was established with an objective of building it as a hub of higher education. The people of Amguri decided to establish a college in the area to fulfill their educational needs. It may be mentioned that a public meeting was held in March 1967 at Amguri AHD High School. This was the first sitting which formally proposed to establish a college in the place. It is said that Muktinath Sarma and Sunaram Chutia, eminent freedom fighter and educationist respectively stated the objective of the meeting and the meeting was presided over by Mahendra Nath Hazarika, a prominent social activist. That was the first meeting which decided to establish a college with Arts stream at Amguri. For this purpose, a committee named as Amguri College Governing Committee was formed and the public attending the meeting nominated Muktinath Sarma and Sunaram Chutia as the president and the secretary of the committee respectively. Arun Mahanta was given the charge of the Principal. That was the beginning and the college started functioning at Amguri AHD High School from July 17, 1967.
The teachers and employees of Amguri AHD High School had immense contributions in establishing the college. Each graduate teacher of the school contributed Rs 20, other teachers and employees contributed ten rupees per month for three years consecutively for the college funds. Teachers and employees of Amguri Girls� School also extended their financial support. In this respect, the name of various persons like Chandra Kanta Bhuyan (Bhuyangaon), Nitya Borua, Phatik Gogoi, Bhula Gohain, Bhadra Krishna Gogoi (Dupdor), Padmanath Saikia (Jalukgaon), Dulal Dutta, Dhiren Saikia, Bikul Saikia (Hiloidharigaon), Someswar Kakati, Mamtaz Uddin Ahmed, Somnath Hazarika, Rupeswar Borah, Tilak Borthakur, Eswar Lal Bhaheti, Haralal Dey, Dr Indu Bhusan Roy, Phatik Borthakur (Amguri town), Deben Gogoi (Padumoni), Durgeswar Borua, Lakhi Saikia, Kamaleswar Saikia (Charingia Pukhuri),Gulap Neog (Saudgaon), Ananda Chandra Neog, Urbidhar Umakanta Borah, Krishna Kanta Borah, Phanindranath Neog (Bhuyanhat) and many others needs to be mentioned and without their voluntary support, either physical or financial, the dream of establishing a college in Amguri would have never been fulfilled. They sacrificed their time, toil, patience and energy in order to translate into reality a long-cherished dream of the people of Amguri for the establishment of a college in the area.
In 1968, the college shifted to �Union Club� from the school campus. And finally it shifted in 1972 to �Bor-Baam Grant� where the present college campus is situated. The college got grant-in-aid and was provincialised in 1977 and UGC recommendation in 1998. UGC has recently ranked the college with B+ grade which is a matter of pride for the people of greater Amguri. All this became possible because of the sincere and honest service on the part of the teachers, employees and students since its inception to the golden jubilee year in general and the principals from the founder to the present, Arun Mahanta, Amal Dutta, Dulal Borua, Dr Giyasuddin Ahmed, Dr Minoti Chutia and Dr Ashfia Sultana in particular. They had left no stone unturned in creating a most conducive academic environment for students� admission in the college.
Currently, the college has full-fledged departments with both major and general courses. Some departments have MA (Correspondence) programmes. The college has the centre of Krishna Kanta Handique State Open University that offers degree- level correspondence course to the local community. The departments and study centre have enabled the college to scale new heights.
The college has gone a long way in shaping the intellectual life of the place. It has been central to the academic activities right from the beginning and all the teachers and employees of the college have been contributing a lot which has helped it to run smoothly for 50 long years. Hope this candle of knowledge shines brighter in the coming days.
