Agartala, March 11: The Tripura government will provide space within the sprawling Nazrul Kala Kshetra auditorium in the Math Chowmuhuni area here to enable the Asam Sahitya Sabha open an office.

The cabinet took the decision last night.

“This is being done as part of the cultural exchange programme between Assam and Tripura; the site has been identified and senior functionaries of Asam Sahitya Sabha will be informed to visit the state and do the spadework for setting up their office,” information minister Anil Sarkar said.

Initially, space would be provided at Bir Chandra State Central Library in the old secretariat building as the second phase of construction of Nazrul Kala Kshetra was on, he told reporters.

“Once construction is over, they will be able to shift to the site originally selected and function from there,” Anil Sarkar added.

He said during its recent visit to the state in connection with the recently-concluded Agartala Book Fair, a delegation of Asam Sahitya Sabha — the largest socio-literary organisation of Assam — headed by its president Rongbong Terang had met chief minister Manik Sarkar and requested him for an office space.

The cabinet last night positively responded to its plea, he added.

The minister, himself a poet, lauded the state government and the education department of Assam for including one of his poems in the school curricula.

Team to Delhi: The cabinet meeting chaired by Manik Sarkar also decided to depute a team of officials of the finance department to Delhi to seek clarification on the recommendations of the 13th Finance Commission.

Official sources in the state secretariat said that the commission’s final report along with the Centre’s action-taken report were tabled in the Lok Sabha on February 25, but a copy of the commission’s report reached the state government much later.