Restoration done, but Dr John Berry White Museum still a far cry

Dibrugarh: Seven and a half years after restoration work began, the proposed heritage museum at Dr John Berry White Medical School in Dibrugarh remains in limbo — caught in bureaucratic delays and procedural lapses.

The 125-year-old building, which laid the foundation for medical education in northeast India, was to be converted into a museum under a Rs 2.1 crore initiative funded by Oil India Limited and executed by INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage). Though INTACH claims the restoration is complete, the site hasn't been handed over to the Dibrugarh district administration due to pending joint inspections and missing technical documentation.

A recent RTI reply revealed that the required inspection by officials from PWD (building & electrical), OIL, and INTACH couldn't be conducted as INTACH failed to submit the final plan and technical sanction. Officials confirmed that a Jan 2025 handover attempt was declined overdue diligence concerns.

The project, originally slated for completion within 15 months of the MoU signed in Jan 2018, has seen repeated delays. BCPL also contributed Rs 15 lakh for boundary wall construction, and a core committee formed in Aug 2018 oversaw the museum plan, involving district officials and medical professionals.

The site commemorates British surgeon Dr John Berry White, who donated Rs 50,000 -- equivalent to nearly Rs 10 crore today -- to establish the medical school in 1900. It later evolved into the Assam Medical College in 1947.

With no clear timeline for inspection or handover, the restored building remains shuttered.