Guwahati, July 10, 2023: The Assam government has made the decision to elevate seven state colleges to university status, a move that will bring the total number of universities in the state to 10.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma took to Twitter to announce the development, stating, “In our pursuit of making Assam an educational hub in Eastern India, we are planning to upgrade seven colleges to university status. Once accomplished, we will have established 10 new universities in the state since 2021. I recently met with the principals of these colleges.”

According to Chief Minister Sarma, JB College in Jorhat, North Lakhimpur College in Lakhimpur, Nowgong College in Nagaon, Sibsagar College in Sivasagar, Gurucharan College in Silchar, and Bongaigaon College in Bongaigaon will all be granted university status.

However, the hopes of attaining university status for Handique Girls’ College seem to be distant, as the Assam government is contemplating introducing new bills for college upgrades in the state, leaving the college’s prospects uncertain.

In a previous announcement on June 16, Chief Minister Sarma clarified that during the August assembly session, the Assam government would present bills to establish new universities in Sibsagar College, Kokrajhar Government College, Bongaigaon College, JB College in Jorhat, North Lakhimpur College, Nagaon College, and Gurucharan College.

The upgradation of Handique College, on the other hand, will take time due to the college’s current lack of sufficient land.

“We are searching for land for Handique College,” Chief Minister Sarma mentioned on his Twitter account.

Sources indicate that Handique Girls’ College currently caters to around 2,700 students, and its transition to a university would require additional land for infrastructure.

An anonymous official from Handique Girls’ College stated, “While we have seen the tweet from the Assam Chief Minister, we have not yet received any official communication from the government regarding this matter.”