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Assam Rajiv Gandhi University of Co-operative Management, Sivasagar

Rajiv Gandhi (cropped)
Rajiv Gandhi (cropped) Image: Wikimedia Commons. Rajiv Gandhi meeting Russian Hare Krishna devotees in New Delhi 1989.jpg: ISKCON Russia derivative work: Indopug / CC BY-SA 3.0

The Assam Rajiv Gandhi University of Co-operative Management is a university located in Sivasagar, in the state of Assam, India. The institution is named after Rajiv Gandhi (1944–1991), the former Prime Minister of India, and is dedicated to higher education and training in the field of co-operative management.

Key facts

Name Assam Rajiv Gandhi University of Co-operative Management
Location Sivasagar, Assam, India
Type University
Field of focus Co-operative management
Named after Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India

Overview

The university is situated in Sivasagar, a historic town in upper Assam that was once the capital of the Ahom kingdom. The institution focuses on academic programmes and research related to the co-operative sector, an area of considerable economic and social importance in rural India.

Namesake

The university takes its name from Rajiv Ratna Gandhi (20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991), an Indian politician and pilot who served as the Prime Minister of India from 1984 to 1989. Rajiv Gandhi assumed office at the age of 40, following the assassination of his mother, then–Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, becoming the youngest person to hold the office of Prime Minister of India.

Born into the politically prominent Nehru–Gandhi family, Rajiv Gandhi was educated at The Doon School and the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. He returned to India in 1966 and worked as a professional pilot for the state-owned Indian Airlines before entering politics in 1981, when he won the Parliamentary seat of Amethi following the death of his brother Sanjay Gandhi.

During his tenure as Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi held a record Lok Sabha majority secured by the Indian National Congress in the December 1984 general election, in which the party won 414 of 541 seats. He was assassinated on 21 May 1991 while campaigning for the general election that year. In 1991, he was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour.

Significance

By dedicating an entire university to co-operative management, the institution reflects the importance of the co-operative movement in Assam and the wider North-East Indian economy, where co-operative societies play a key role in agriculture, dairy, handloom, credit, and rural development.

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