NBT gets first Assamese chief

Guwahati: Award-winning author Rita Chowdhury was appointed as the director of National Book Trust (NBT) on Wednesday. She became the first person from Assam to be appointed to the post.
The NBT is an autonomous body under the Union HRD ministry.
The post of director fell vacant after M A Sikandar retired in August, 2014. A Sahitya Akademi winner, Chowdhury is the wife of Assam BJP leader Chandra Mohan Patowary.
Chowdhury, a professor of political science at Cotton College, has won a number of awards for her books.She received the Sahitya Akademi award in 2008 for her novel ‘Deo Langkhui’, based on the Tiwa tribe of Assam.
Her other novel, ‘Makam’, which traces the plight of Chinese-origin people in Assam, is also a favourite with the readers.