A scene from the play Piyoli Phukan, staged at the John Berry White Hall, on the eve of the diamond jubilee celebration of the Assam Medical College and Hospital on Wednesday. Picture by Eastern Projections

Nov. 1: The region’s oldest medical college entered — literally and figuratively — a new era today.

The three-day diamond jubilee celebrations of the Assam Medical College and Hospital (AMCH) appropriately began with the inauguration of a new concrete entrance to its Dibrugarh campus, a symbolism that nobody associated with the institution will have missed.

“What better way to start than with the opening of a concrete gate constructed with a donation from a Dibrugarh-based businessman?” the AMCH principal and chief superintendent, Dr T.R. Borborah, said.

Nearly 2,500 former students from across the globe joined in the 60th anniversary gala of their alma mater. An interactive alumni session provided the perfect platform for former students and professors to reminisce about the old times.

Dr Tankeswar Bora, an alumnus of the 1956 batch, recalled how a moment of joy suddenly turned into one of sorrow when he was a student.

“I was in my third year and had accompanied some friends to a film show at Aurora Cinema. All of a sudden, the screening of the film was stopped and an announcement was made outside on the fixed loudspeaker system about the death of our principal, the renowned surgeon Dr B.N. Banerjee. The huge gathering at his funeral was a reflection of the respect the students had for Banerjee Sir.”

Dr Deepali Dutta, the principal and chief superintendent of the AMCH from 1990 to ’92, released a compilation on former teachers of the institution. The compilation was done by Dr Debojyoti Das, one of the deputy superintendents of the AMCH, and co-ordinated by Dr Narayan Upadhaya and Dr Santanu Lahkar.

The daughter of the third principal of the AMCH, Dr Ram Labhya, was there at the inauguration of the diamond jubilee. Aruna Sarma committed Rs 2 lakh from her family’s trust for underprivileged people who visit the AMCH for treatment.

The big surprise of the day was the presence of 86-year-old Girindra Nath Patangia, a student of the 1945 batch of the John Berry White Medical School. Patangia did his Licensed Medical Practitioner (LMP) course at the institute, which went on to become the AMCH.

“We are honoured to have him with us. He will unfurl the AMCH flag on the final day of the jubilee bash,” the AMCH principal said.

The list of programmes for the next two days includes the inauguration of an Oil India Ltd-sponsored lecture-cum-conference hall. Chief minister Tarun Gogoi will inaugurate a Rs 8-crore MRI machine on the last day of the jubilee bash.

A science and trade exhibition was declared open today by former Union minister of state for health and family welfare, Paban Singh Ghatowar, and his legislator wife Jibantara Ghatowar.

“It is a privilege to have been invited by the diamond jubilee organising committee. I hope the joy and happiness we are witnessing today with former students converging on the campus will provide all those associated with the institution the inspiration to work harder for its betterment,” Paban Singh Ghatowar, who represented Dibrugarh constituency in Parliament, said.