The Assam Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, has decided to rename the Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Medical College and Hospital (FAAMCH) in Barpeta as Barpeta Medical College and Hospital. The decision was taken during the cabinet meeting held on Tuesday to bring the institution in line with the state’s standard naming convention for government medical colleges.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, Chief Minister Sarma said the move was necessitated by the need for uniformity and to eliminate public confusion. The CM said, “All our medical colleges are named after their locations. We see that in the medical colleges in Guwahati, Dhubri, Silchar, Bongaigaon, Biswanath, Tezpur etc”. He further added, “Somehow, the Barpeta one was named as Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Medical College and Hospital, which does not align with the naming pattern of other medical colleges.”
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He added that the existing name had repeatedly led to misunderstandings. “Because of its name, many people ask whether it is a private medical college. That is why the Cabinet today decided to change the name and make it Barpeta Medical College and Hospital,” he said.
The Chief Minister emphasised that the renaming does not diminish the legacy of former President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, who remains the only person from Assam to have held the country’s highest constitutional office. Another institution will be named after the former president, Sarma said.
Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Medical College will be renamed as Barpeta Medical College & Hospital. pic.twitter.com/YPNlbbeQGk
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) March 10, 2026
“As Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was India’s President and the first one from Assam, the cabinet decided that another educational or cultural institution of the same or higher stature will be named after him. We will take a decision in this regard to keep his name alive,” Sarma assured.
The medical college, established in 2011 and affiliated with Srimanta Sankardeva University of Health Sciences, has been offering undergraduate courses since 2012 and postgraduate programmes since 2019. The name change is expected to take effect immediately following formal notification.
The decision comes ahead of the Assam Assembly elections next month.
