Guwahati, March 29: Dispur will set up a kalakshetra after Koch King Naranarayan in Bongaigaon.

Chief minister Tarun Gogoi announced this after inaugurating the Chilarai Bhawan, the head office of Sodou Asom Koch-Rajbongshi Sanmilani, at Borbari here today.

'For this purpose, the state government will provide a grant of Rs 5 crore,' the chief minister said.

Gogoi said the government has been working for the all-round progress and development of different ethnic communities and it has set up different development councils for the purpose.

'We want that each community must reap the fruits of development and for this we have set up the development councils for different communities so that they march along the path of progress and prosperity,' he said, adding that Assam is the first state to have constituted development councils.

A kalakshetra is a cultural complex dedicated to the preservation of traditional values in art.

The state government had set up the first such complex in the state, Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra here in 1998, named after medieval poet-playwright and reformer Srimanta Xankardeb.

Clause 6 of the Assam Accord had included establishment of Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra in Guwahati.

Gogoi announced that meritorious students from poor, marginalised and underprivileged segments of society would be housed in residential schools and that skill development centres would be set up for different communities, including Koch-Rajbongshi.

The chief minister urged the development councils to focus on education, skill development and on women-welfare oriented schemes.

'Focus on education, income generation through skill development and on women welfare schemes will lead us towards the path of progress and prosperity,' he added.

Gogoi said his government has been vigorously pursuing with the central government for granting Scheduled Tribe status to six ethnic communities, including the Koch-Rajbongshis.

'Our government has been vigorously taking up the issue of granting of Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to six ethnic communities, including the Koch-Rajbhongshi. The central government has neither accepted nor rejected the proposals sent by the expert committees constituted by the state government,' he added.

Addressing the gathering, Durlabh Chamua, the president of Sodou Asom Koch-Rajbongshi Sanmilani, thanked the chief minister for his support and co-operation towards the construction of Chilarai Bhawan.

The foundation stone of the bhawan built at a cost of Rs 1.40 crore was laid by Gogoi on January 14, 2004.

Anjan Dutta, MLA, also praised Gogoi for his slew of development initiatives that have led to the creation of the Koch-Rajbhongshi Development Council, a permanent office of the Koch-Rajbongshis in Guwahati, institution of Bir Chilarai Award and a film after Bir Chilarai.

Earlier, a memorandum enlisting various demands of the Koch-Rajbongshi community was handed over to the chief minister.