Dr Bidhu Bhusan Dutta, former Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha and a distinguished academician of the State passed away today. He was 84.
Dr Dutta was actively involved in the Hill State movement preceding the formation of the State of Meghalaya and held the post of Assistant General Secretary of the APHLC. He then joined Congress (I) and became the General Secretary of the Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee.
In later years, he became the General Secretary of the North East India Congress Coordination Committee and worked closely with a many political stalwarts of the region that includes Capt. Williamson A Sangma, S. C. Jamir, Hokishe Sema, Purno A. Sangma, P. R. Kyndiah amongst others.
Born on July 1, 1937, Dr Dutta completed his Masters in Economics and joined St. Anthony’s College as a lecturer in Economics after a brief stint at the office of the then Accountant General of Assam.
Though Dr Dutta was deeply involved in politics, he continued with his teaching assignments at St. Anthony’s College, Shillong and even earned his Doctoral degree from Gauhati University under the supervision of Professor K. Alam. His works on Banking in Meghalaya is one of the first of its kind of work. Dr Dutta has also been co-author of a number of books some of which standout as pioneering works in the relevant field.
In 1993, he was nominated Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha as a distinguished academic. Apart from academic institutions, he was associated and took lead role in many of social and Philanthropic institutions in the state of Meghalaya and beyond. One of his pioneering contributions was establishment of the Sri Aurobindo Institute of Indian Culture, Shillong which stands out as a unique institution emphasising on the multitude of the culture that represents India. Asian Confluence, of which he was the founding Chairperson, is another of the institutions founded by him that works in its own unique ways to reshape the destiny of India’s north east.
Meanwhile, the Central Puja Committee (CPC), Meghalaya has condole the death of Dr Dutta. “Members of CPC, Meghalaya pray to Almighty God to grant Eternal Peace to the departed soul and solace to the bereaved family members,” the CPC said.
