GUWAHATI, May 19 – Not many are aware that the permanent address of Congress leader Manmohan Singh, who is likely to be the next Prime Minister, is in a quiet locality of this north eastern state capital, reports PTI. The address is House No. 3989, Nandan Nagar, Ward Number 51, Sarumataria, Dispur, Guwahati - 781006, Assam.
The double storeyed building in an uptown residential area approachable through the lanes of Sarumataria belongs to former Chief Minister late Hiteswar Saikia, whose wife and state Sericulture Minister Hemoprova Saikia now reside in it. The house wears no particular busy look or is engulfed by security personnel save the few on duty for Hemoprova Saikia. VIP security men are deployed only when Dr Singh comes here.
Dr Manmohan Singh’s neighbours here are naturally thrilled that their “famous next-door neighbour” is poised to be the Prime Minister of the country but they are keen that he takes an intitiave to improve the roads in the locality. On Hiteswar Saikia’s persuasion in 1991, Dr Singh had agreed to contest from Assam to the Rajya Sabha and thus began his political career. He became the Union Finance Minister in the P V Narasimha Rao ministry ushering in liberalisation.
Born in Gah West Punjab, now in Pakistan, the former Reserve Bank of India Governor was reelected from Assam to the Upper House in 1995 and again in 2001. Currently he is the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. Since 1991, Dr Singh had been utilising his MP's Local Area Development Funds for making improvements to facilities in the education, health, civic sectors across the state.
The Oxford D.Lit economist and former civil servant has made largescale contributions from his LADF for rebuilding the lower primary schools established before 1965 with modern facilities, besides buildings and auditoriums in various colleges. A blood-bank was set up in the M M civil hospital here and facilities improved in others government hospitals, too, across the state.
The Sri Sri Sankardev Udan, the park on the riverfront of the Brahmaputra here was also created for the benefit of Guwahati residents, sources in the district administration implementing the projects said. The ruins of ‘Madan Kamdeb temple’, an archeological site dating back to the Gupta period and comparable to the Khajuraho temple, was restored with the LADF provided by Dr Manmohan Singh.
A 4.3-km approach road to the once forgotten temple atop a hillock near here was constructed, a museum built to house the artefacts discovered among the ruins there, facilities provided for research scholars, besides developing the area as a tourist spot, the sources added.