TEZPUR, Feb 25 - The five-day book fair organised by Publication Board of Assam in association with Tea Tribe Welfare Board and Asom Sah Jangusthi Sahitya Sabha that began on February 22 at Church Field here came to an end today.
Dignitaries like noted writers Dr Rita Choudhury and Anuradha Sharma Puzary; Minister of State, Tea Tribe Welfare and Minister of State, Labour Welfare, Sanjoy Kishan; MP of Tezpur, Pallab Lochan Das were present in the programme.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Choudhury appreciated the State government and the Publication Board for organising such an intellectual event, which will help in taking the tea community a long way towards their socio-cultural, literature and educational development.
In her speech, she also mentioned that those who are in leading position from the community, including the political leaders, should take up the educational development issues as their sole responsibility.
Echoing the same, noted writer and journalist Anuradha Sharma Puzari spoke on how tea community people were brought to Assam and how their culture, literature and language developed along with the Assamese culture.
Mentioning Mangri Orang was the first martyr who sacrificed her life for the sake of the nation, Puzari said that tea community people have an unmatched contribution towards the Assamese culture and literature.
While releasing the souvenir �Dahar�, Pallab Lochan Das said that tea community people could not know what is book and how to relate themselves with it. �However, the government has taken a proper initiative in connecting the backward tea community people with books organising such an event. We should not be confined within development of road communication, electrification and upholding of health and hygiene in the labour lines, rather we will have to create an environment for the educational development of the tea community people,� he said.
In the programme, noted tea community litterateurs, including Dineswar Tasha, Sushil Kurmi, Makhanlal Barhoi, Ananata Tanti, were awarded Narayan Ghatwar Memorial Literary Award, Dewram Tasha Literary Award, Ganesh Kurmi Literary Award and Meghraj Karmakar Memorial Literary Award, respectively.
Moreover, the students from different schools and colleges including Ankur Aditya Nath, Ankurita Mahanta Annesa Kashyap, Mayukh Deb Choudhury, Samridhi Rajnandini Sarmah, Nyor Sivam, Ananya Garg Bhattacharya, Gayotree Barhoi, among others, received awards for their best performances in various competitions.