Assam's Rupsi Airport is likely to be renamed "Gurudev Kalicharan Brahma Airport", with the government expected to bring up the matter in the upcoming Autumn Session of the Assam Legislative Assembly. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Wednesday that the state government will appeal to the Centre for the same.
Sarma addressed the media after the weekly Assam cabinet meeting today during which he mentioned that renaming the Kokrajhar airport is one of the issues of the government. Moreover, the cabinet also decided to increase the term of Assam Skill University's Vice-Chancellor and a bill regarding this will be tabled in the upcoming assembly session.
Speaking on Rupsi Airport he said, "We will request the Central government to rename Rupsi Airport as Gurudev Kalicharan Brahma Airport. However, according to the Centre, the decision of renaming cannot only be taken by the cabinet."
The Chief Minister said that the approval of the entire assembly is also mandatory for the name change procedure. As such, the matter will be proposed during the Assam Assembly's Autumn Session.
"Regarding this, the state assembly also has to give its approval. Hence, we will bring this up during the assembly session," Sarma said.
Notably, the Rupsi Airport is a domestic airport which serves both the cities of Kokrajhar and Dhubri in Assam. The airport is located 17 kilometers from the city centre at Rupsi. It serves as a means for people from Lower Assam to travel to major Indian cities.
Regarding increasing the term of the Vice-Chancellor of Assam Skill University, Chief Minister Sarma said, "We have taken a decision today to increase the term of the Vice-Chancellor of Assam Skill University by two years. For this, we will bring a bill during the upcoming assembly session."
Last month, Sarma visited the upcoming Assam Skill University campus in Mangaldoi in the Darrang district and took stock of the progress of construction works.
It may be noted that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in 2021 approved a USD 112 million loan aimed at enhancing skills education and training in Assam through the establishment of the Assam Skill University.