GUWAHATI, March 18 - Tributes were paid to the memory of Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, general secretary of Assam Senior Citizens� Association (ASCA), at a meeting held at Pensioners� Bhawan today. Mahanta had passed away on March 14.
Recalling his association with Mahanta for the last 17 years, DN Chakravartty, who presided over the session, described Mahanta as a competent organiser, a nationalist and a gentleman.
�With his illustrious career as the Chief Executive of a big company, Mahanta displayed managerial skills and ability to tackle problems both in the field of industrial management and public service. His contributions as founder member of the ASCA and as its general secretary would be well remembered,� he said.
Dr Banikanta Sarma, Khanindra Chandra Das, Tabiul Hussain, Uttam Baruah, Baneswar Khound and Abani Sarma, in their speeches, referred to the contributions made by Mahanta as an intelligent columnist adorning the pages of several newspapers and journals of Assam with his thought-provoking articles on the problems of Assam in general and possibilities of industrial development, especially in the petroleum and gas-based sector, in particular.
Bijuli Sarma, Hem Sarma, Mohini Gogoi, Dr Birendra Kumar Sarma and Raseswari Hazarika recollected their association with Mahanta for the past 10 years and described his qualities of the head and the heart. They observed that the untimely death of Mahanta was an irreparable loss to his family but a huge void in the senior citizens� association.
Earlier, centenarian member Dr Keshab Chandra Bardoloi lighted the ceremonial lamp and placed floral wreaths at the portrait of Mahanta.
