The Radhakanta Handique building, which houses the office and conference hall of Asam Sahitya Sabha’s Jorhat unit. Picture by UB Photos

Jorhat, Jan. 20: The long cherished dream of the local Sahitya Sabha unit here to have an office of its own has been fulfilled, thanks to the generosity of an Assamese family residing in the US.

The permanent office as well as a conference hall of the Jorhat district unit of the Asam Sahitya Sabha were constructed on the first floor of the Radhakanta Handique building here with funds provided by the US-based family members of late Nabin Chandra Bordoloi — a former president of the unit.

The Radhakanta Handique building is a relatively new RCC structure adjacent to the recently renovated Chandrakanta Handique building, the Asam Sahitya Sabha headquarters here. It houses the Central Institute of Assamese Studies, the academic wing of the Sabha, the library and the distance learning centre on the ground floor.

Bordoloi, who was a resident of Jail Road here, was also a former treasurer of the central committee of the Sabha. He was an eye specialist by profession apart from being a writer, poet and social worker, and was the main contributor in establishment of a college on the Dhekiajuli outskirts here that the local people later named after him.

He had also set up two high schools (one each for boys and girls) in the area and had passed away on October 28, 2009.

Sabha assistant general secretary Debojit Bora, while lauding the gesture of the late Bordoloi’s family, told The Telegraph that “a long-time requirement” of the Jorhat district unit to have its own permanent office had been fulfilled.

Bora, who is also a former general secretary of the Jorhat unit, said the unit had been functioning from a temporary office in the Sabha’s central office till now. He said with the new office, the unit’s activities could be expanded and the new mini conference hall was expected to come in handy in organising meetings and other literary programmes.

The family has spent Rs 30 lakh in constructing the office-cum-conference hall, which the Sabha has named in memory of Bordoloi. The total area of the two rooms is 3,100 square feet and covers a part of the building’s first floor.

The rooms were formally handed over to the Jorhat district unit last Sunday after two deeds of agreement were signed and registered in court between the Sabha and members of the donor family on Saturday.

Bordoloi’s eldest son, Binoy, who owns a firm in the US associated with medical research, said his family was glad to “do something” for the organisation with which his father had been deeply associated.

“We decided to respond positively to the proposal given to us two years back after discussing it with family members,” Binoy said, adding that it was an honour to be associated with the Sabha, which played an important role in Assamese society.

Binoy’s siblings, Bijoy and Bandana, are also based in the US.

Khirod Das and Bidyut Bhusan Bora, the general secretary and assistant secretary respectively of the Jorhat district unit, thanked the Bordoloi family for their generous act and hoped it would set a good example for others.