Kamrup (Assam) [India], January 4 : Cherishing a moment of achievement, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday felicitated 1,534 students from Bezera and Sualkuchi for coming out with flying colours at the HSLC and HS Examinations, 2025 at a function held at Changsari in Kamrup district.

Addressing the students, Chief Minister Sarma said that since he was elected MLA from the Jalukbari constituency in 2001, he has honoured meritorious students who achieve good results in the HSLC and HS Examinations. In 2002, only 288 students received this honour; this year, the number has risen to 2,116.

Calling students' attention to the ever-changing needs of the world, Sarma said society is constantly evolving. He said that at times the pace becomes so fast that even those who initiate the change fall behind.
He stated that advances in medical science have increased average life expectancy. Today's students may live to 90 or older. As a result, they will experience many changes in their lives and must prepare for them.
Referring to rapid changes across fields, he recalled that when the Asian Games were held in Delhi in 1982, television first came to India. Those televisions displayed only black-and-white images. Colour television followed gradually, and later, mobile phones replaced television as the primary device in people's hands. Now, even smartphones have replaced mobile phones.

Sarma also noted that people once wrote using typewriters. He said that electronic typewriters followed, and later, large box-like computers and laptops appeared. Commenting that artificial intelligence has taken over almost everything, he said the era of software is over.
Referring to rapid changes in dietary habits, Sharma said that laboratories now produce food tailored to human needs. Bioengineered food has entered the market.
He said earlier, doctors treated diseases once they appeared. Later, the idea of disease prevention emerged. Now genetic screening has arrived. People can now learn in advance about diseases that may occur 10 years later and take preventive steps. Gradually, it will become possible to identify diseases a person may develop over a lifetime, even in childhood, and prevent them through various methods.

He observed that technology has also brought remarkable changes to medical procedures. Earlier, doctors performed surgery by opening the body. Later, surgeons inserted cameras through small openings to perform the operation. In many cases, robots perform surgery while doctors remotely guide them. Such robotic surgeries have already been performed at Guwahati Medical College. A time will come when doctors will operate on patients from faraway places. As technologies like augmented reality and virtual reality grow stronger, people from a distance will feel very near. These technologies will even enable classroom instruction without a teacher.
Referring to Tesla's development of self-driving cars using sensor technology, he said that within 10 to 15 years, many tasks will become possible without doctors, engineers, or teachers.

Calling the unimaginable changes driven by artificial intelligence and machine learning only the tip of an iceberg, Chief Minister Sarma urged students to prepare themselves and stay alert as they move forward in a fast-changing world.
He told the students that textbook learning alone is insufficient. They must prepare for the human resources the future world will need and move forward in sync with change.
Urging them to choose fields of study that align with Industry 4.0, he said the government has also tried to keep pace with change.
Assam's ITIs have replaced traditional courses with subjects that create employment opportunities in artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality, and machine learning. The government plans to install an advanced proton therapy machine at Guwahati Medical College for Rs. 500 crore to treat cancer. Since solar energy is available only during daylight, the government has arranged to store daytime solar power in pump storage systems and supply it to the grid during periods of high demand.

Sarma said that the students who received felicitations possess higher merits than others. Therefore, their responsibilities would also increase. At the end of his speech, he read out the citation presented to the meritorious students.
MLA Kamalpur Diganta Kalita, Kamrup District Commissioner Deb Kumar Mishra, noted social worker Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, renowned singer Pulak Banerjee, career counsellor Gouranga Sarma, and a host of other dignitaries were present on the occasion.