The Assam Government on Tuesday conferred the State's Highest Civilian Awards to 22 distinguished personalities recognizing their outstanding services to society.
The award ceremony was held at the Srimanta Sankardeva Kalakshetra and was graced by Vice-President of India, Jagdeep Dhankhar. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Assam Governor Gulab Chand Kataria and a host of other dignitaries attended the ceremony.
The civilian awards consist of the Assam Baibhav, Assam Saurav and Assam Gaurav.
Former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi was conferred the Assam Baibhav Award 2023 in the field of law and justice. Ranjan Gogoi is a former advocate and judge who served as the 46th Chief Justice of India. He is the first judge from Northeast India to hold the post of Chief Justice of India.
Here is the full list of awardees for the Assam Saurav and Assam Gaurav:
| Sl. No | Name of Recommended Awardee | Award Category | Field |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sri Ranjan Gogoi | Assam Baibhav | Law & Justice |
| 2 | Dr Kishan Chand Nauriyal | Assam Saurav | Art and Culture (Archaeology) |
| 3 | Elvis Ali Hazarika | Assam Saurav | Sports (Swimming) |
| 4 | Hima Das | Assam Saurav | Sports (Athletics) |
| 5 | Nadiram Deuri | Assam Saurav | Art & Culture (Tiwa Dance exponent) |
| 6 | Ranjit Gogoi | Assam Gaurav | Art and culture (Folk & Bihu Dance Exponent) |
| 7 | Parvati Barua | Assam Gaurav | Environment& Forest (Animal conservation activist,Human-Elephant conflict expert) |
| 8 | Debojit Changmai | Assam Gaurav | Art and Culture (Sound Engineer) |
| 9 | Drono Bhuyan | Assam Gaurav | Art and Culture (OjaPali) |
| 10 | Neelam Dutta | Assam Gaurav | Agriculture (Organic Farming) |
| 11 | Anupam Deka | Assam Gaurav | Entrepreneur (Industrialist) |
| 12 | Soumyadeep Dutta | Assam Gaurav | Environment& Forest (Wildlife Conservation) |
| 13 | Basanta Chiring Phukan | Assam Gaurav | Agriculture (Progressive Mushroom Cultivator) |
| 14 | Manendra Deka | Assam Gaurav | Craft and Bamboo artist (Handicraft) |
| 15 | Meenakshi Chetia | Assam Gaurav | ASHA Worker (Social Service) |
| 16 | Pakhila Lekhtepi | Assam Gaurav | Art and Culture (Karbi Folk Singer) |
| 17 | Tenzing Bodosa | Assam Gaurav | Environment& Forest (Elephant friendly Tea Estate Establishment) |
| 18 | Nirmal Dey | Assam Gaurav | Entrepreneur (ShitalPati) |
| 19 | Jecin Kumbang Pao | Assam Gaurav | Handlooms (Weaving) |
| 20 | Mary Hassa | Assam Gaurav | AWC (Social Service) |
| 21 | Upendra Rabha | Assam Gaurav | Agriculture (Black Rice Cultivator) |
| 22 | Rahul Gupta | Assam Gaurav | Agriculture (Hydroponic Farming) |
Notably, Assam Civilian Awards are conferred on similar patterns of Bharat Ratna and Padma Awards, the highest Civilian Awards of the Government of India. The number of awards varies every year in each category as per the decision of the Award Committee.