The Mahendra Nath Deka Phukan hostel. Picture by UB Photos

March 13: Students past and present, and teachers of Cotton College will come together to celebrate the golden jubilee year of Mahendra Nath Deka Phukan hostel.

At a meeting held on the hostel campus last evening, a committee of boarders, ex-boarders and teachers was formed for the golden jubilee celebration.

The meeting decided to celebrate the golden jubilee with a two-day programme in mid- August.

Established in 1955, the hostel was known as a Double-Storeyed Hostel before it was renamed the Mahendra Nath Deka Phukan hostel in 1986.

The hostel was named after Deka Phukan as a mark of respect towards his contribution to the development of the college. It was Mahendra Nath Deka Phukan who had designed the emblem of the college.

?We have decided that as a part of the golden jubilee celebration of the hostel, we will organise Mahendra Nath Deka Phukan memorial all-Assam inter-college prize money debate,? said Kumud Chandra Baruah, president of the golden jubilee celebration committee and former superintendent of the hostel.

He said some of the best students of the premier college were the boarders of this hostel.

?The celebration will be held in mid-August and the dates will be finalised soon,? he added.

Some of the prominent names among the ex-boarders of the hostel are Assam forest minister Pradyut Bordoloi, author Yese Daraji Thangsi, former city SP Hiren Chandra Nath, Assam rural development minister Ripun Bora, Assam minister for welfare of plain tribes and backward classes Bharat Narah and senior police official and litterateur Kula Saikia.

According to the celebration committee, it will also bring out a souvenir on golden jubilee celebration and a comprehensive book on the hostel?s glorious past. The committee has also invited articles and write-ups from the interested persons.

?During the two-day celebration, ex-boarders will be lodged in the rooms where they used to stay during their college days,? said Sailen Kalita, a boarder of the Mahendra Nath Deka Phukan hostel.

Tug-of-war, volleyball, marathon and weightlifting will be organised during the celebration.