Former Assam DGP Kuladhar Saikia has been elected as the president of Asam Sahitya Sabha, the apex literary body of Assam.
The 1985-batch IPS officer retired from his job two months back.
Saikia, also a Sahitya Akademi winning author, received 269 votes in the election that took place on January 2 evening.
“It’s a huge responsibility for me to be the head of this organization. I consider myself lucky to be bestowed upon this responsibility. I am thankful to all the district units of Asam Sahitya Sabha and the people of Assam for this. I will try my best to serve it in the best possible manner. I think the doors of Sahitya Sabha should be opened for youths so that they can also contribute in a big way,” Saikia said.
The former top cop will assume office for a two-year term in the next biennial session of the Sabha which will be organized soon. The president’s post of the Sabha is considered to be one of the most prestigious in the state.
Saikia studied at Delhi School of Economics and did PhD in economics of crime from IIT Guwahati. He is a Fulbright fellow from Pennsylvania State University and former consultant at World Bank at Washington DC.
The 61-year-old writer has a number of short story collections to his kitty. In 2015 he had won the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award for his short story collection Akaxor Sobi Aaru Onyanyo Golpo (Picture of the Sky and Other Tales).
Apart from that, writer Mrinalini Devi was elected vice-president and Jadhav Sarma was elected general secretary of the Asam Sahitya Sabha.
