Shillong locality honours first West Bengal CM as one of Meghalaya’s trailblazers

B.C. Roy. Illustration: Satwik Gade

GUWAHATI

A 100-year-old locality in Shillong has honoured Bidhan Chandra Roy, a physician and West Bengal’s first Chief Minister, as one of Meghalaya’s trailblazers.

The Rilbong locality, established after the British regime allotted land for settlement in 1925, also honoured 24 other luminaries who helped shape Shillong and the northeastern region beyond through their contributions to literature, education, healthcare, journalism, politics, culture, sports and public service.

They include James Joy Mohon Nichols-Roy, a pioneer of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India, which helped establish autonomous tribal councils; four-time Meghalaya Chief Minister Brington Buhai Lyngdoh, regarded as the father of coalition politics and the MLA Scheme in the country; and Neil Nongkynrih, founder of the Shillong Chamber Choir.

“Dr. Bidhan Roy was an iconic physician and Chief Minister of West Bengal. What many Indians may not know was his connection with Shillong, where he founded the Shillong Hydro Electric Company and introduced the first electric lights in the city in October 1923,” Manas Chaudhuri, the president of the Rilbong Centenary Celebration Committee, told The Hindu on Saturday (October 17, 2026).