Amit Shah to undertake two-day visit to Assam, Manipur during weekend

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will undertake a two-day visit to Assam and Manipur from December 26 during which he will lay the foundation stone of a new medical college in Guwahati and distribute financial grants to 8,000 ‘namghars’ or Vaishnavite monasteries under the Assam Darshan programme, officials said on Thursday. In Manipur, he will lay the foundation stones of the Churachandpur medical college, an IIT at Muongkhong, a state government guest house, the state police headquarters and the integrated command and control centre in Imphal.

Besides distribution of financial grants to the ‘namghars’, Shah will also lay the foundation stone for the development of the Batadrava Than as a cultural and tourist destination, a home ministry official said. The Batadrava Than, a Vaishnavite monastery in Nagaon district of Assam, was established by Srimanta Sankardeva, a 15th-16th century Assamese saint-scholar, poet and socio-religious reformer.

Shah will also lay the foundation stone of a new medical college in Guwahati, the second medical college in the city, and nine law colleges to be set up across Assam. Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal will attend the programmes in Guwahati while his Manipuri counterpart N Biren Singh will be present in the events in Imphal.