The Golden Jubilee celebrations of Hemalata Handiqui Memorial Institute, one of the oldest English medium schools in Upper Assam, came and went in 2012.
What sustained was the vow by the Alumni Association formed at that time, to support the school from outside in whatever way it could to revive the then flagging glory of this premier institute.
In keeping with this promise, the Association is gearing up to hold the fifth edition of the inter-school debate competition which has got bigger by the year with schools such as Numaligarh DPS and even Assam Valley School participating.
The 5th All Assam Inter-school Debate competition which has a prize money of about Rs 20000 to be divided among the winners in different categories, will be held on October 6 at the Golden Jubilee Hall, HHMI, Jorhat from 9 am.
The topic of the debate is ‘All kind of reservation at all levels should be abolished for the development of our nation’.
The debate competition will be conducted in Hindi and English and is open for school students up to Class 12.
“The debate will be in Hindi and English. It is a treat to watch the young students so well-prepared and deliberating on the topic with excellent vigour,” said Ramesh Agarwal, an alumnus.
The new team of the Association has Rajinder Singh Bhamrah as its president, Medinee Kamal as vice president, Jugal Bajaj as secretary, Abhilash Baruah as joint secretary and Asim Sarwat as treasurer.
The first debate contest was started by the Alumni Association in 2013. In earlier years, the Association has also donated a few things like newspaper reading racks and boards.
The school has been affiliated to the CBSE board since 2008 and has classes up to XII.
This year, the school won the first prize in the Independence Day Parade.
Hemalata Handiqui Memorial Institute (HHMI) was set up by eminent scholar and philanthropist Krishna Kanta Handique, in memory of his wife Hemalata Handiqui.
Being an educationist, there could not have been a more befitting tribute to his wife than building an institution of learning.
The first English medium school in Jorhat, and the third in Upper Assam, was established in 1962, a few months before the Indo-China War took place. But its history stretches far back in time and is closely linked to the history of Jorhat and its many citizens who built pioneering educational institutes.
The completion of the school was undertaken by KK Handiqui’s son Bijoy Krishna Handique (late) who carried forward the legacy of his father. He later became the MP of Jorhat for five times.