Dibrugarh, March 15: Former president of Asam Sahitya Sabha Nagen Saikia has urged the Centre to set up a proposed All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here and name it after legendary doctor John Berry White. 

White, a British surgeon, came to Upper Assam in 1858 and worked under East India Company for 24 years. 
He used his lifetime earnings of Rs 50,000 to construct John Berry White Medical School in 1900 which was later upgraded to Assam Medical College and Hospital (AMCH) — the first medical college in the Northeast.

Saikia said Assamese society as a whole has a debt to be repaid to White whose sole purpose of life was community development without asking for any returns. 

Echoing Saikia’s voice, tea planter and philanthropist Devi Prasad Bagrodia said: “Whatever Saikia has said is of great significance for Assam as Saikia himself is a living embodiment of the greater Assamese nationality at present.” 

Giving an account of the importance and reputation Dibrugarh and the AMCH enjoy within the country and abroad, former principal in-charge of AMCH, 

S.C. Jain, said: “The name ‘Dibrugarh’ is very much associated with the history of development of medical service. Unfortunately beginning in the eighties, successive state governments had done nothing to improve the AMCH. In this context, an AIIMS needs to be set up in Dibrugarh and named after the legendary White.” 

However, no AIIMS has been named after any person so far.