A team of doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is expected to visit Assam soon to check the health of former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.
Mr. Gogoi was admitted to the intensive care unit of the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) on Thursday due to post-COVID-19 complications. His admission almost coincided with the discharging of another former Chief Minister, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, from a private hospital where he had undergone treatment for a neurological ailment.
“We had a videoconference with AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria in the morning to discuss Mr. Gogoi’s health condition. He expressed satisfaction with the line of treatment by the GMCH doctors and advised some tests,” Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told journalists on Friday.
He added that a team of AIIMS specialists would be arriving “in a day or two” for treating the former Chief Minister, whose parliamentarian son Gaurav Gogoi participated in the videoconference too.
Mr. Sarma said the former Chief Minister’s health improved on Friday compared to what it was on Thursday. “He is maintaining a saturation level of 94 with three litres of oxygen compared to 92 with six litres of oxygen 24 hours ago,” he said.
Mr. Gogoi, 85, was admitted to the GMCH on August 26 after testing positive for COVID-19 and was discharged a few days ago. His health deteriorated sharply on Thursday.
A three-time Chief Minister, Mr. Gogoi represents the Titabor Assembly constituency.
Panel for Bodoland
Meanwhile, Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi on Friday formed a four-member panel for redrawing the map of the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) and increasing the number of councils from 40 to 60.
Mandated by the Bodo Accord of January 29, the BTR would be an “upgraded” version of the existing Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), which has been under the Governor’s Rule since April 27 after the expiry of its term. The new council could not be formed as the April 4 BTC elections were postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
“The commission is headed by former Chief Secretary P.P. Varma and includes BTC administrator Rajesh Prasad. The panel will process applications of exclusion and inclusion of villages from and in BTR according to the population pattern of Bodo and non-Bodo communities,” Mr. Sarma said.
He said the panel had been given six months to submit a report that would include the remapped councils.
