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INDIA: Salesian missionaries launch fourth Don Bosco College Bongaigaon in Assam

INDIA

(MissionNewswire) Salesian missionaries have launched the fourth Don Bosco College in Assam, India. Don Bosco College Bongaigaon was inaugurated by Assam Chief Minister Shri Sarbananda Sonowal on Nov. 4.  In his inaugural address, the chief minister congratulated Salesian missionaries for providing quality education in the community and for nurturing talents of the students in their schools.

Sonowal said, “I am a product of Don Bosco School Dibrugarh, and I know the type of quality that Don Bosco offers to the people all over the world.” To the students, he added, “Don Bosco has set up this college for you and you must promise to do your best.”

The college building was blessed by Bishop Thomas Pulloppillil of Bongaigaon who thanked the Salesians for setting up the college in his region and particularly within his diocese. While praising the Salesians for the great work they are doing in the Northeast, the bishop told the people to take advantage of their services.

The Provincial of Guwahati province, Father Januarius S. Sangma, dedicated the college to the people of the region and thanked the Salesian community for their generous contribution toward the building of the college. The college will provide advanced education so that students can gain the skills needed for long-term stable employment.

Salesian programs across India are primarily focused on education. Salesian primary and secondary education in the country helps youth prepare for later technical, vocational or university study. Other programs help to support poor youth and their families by meeting the basic needs of shelter, proper nutrition and medical care.

Access to professional training and workforce development services is highly valued by youth in India. The country, which is home to 1.34 billion people (18 percent of the world’s population), will have overtaken China as the world’s most populous country by 2024, according to the World Economic Forum. While India has the world’s largest youth population, it has yet to capitalize on this, leaving some 30 percent of this population without employment, education or training.

India has the world’s fourth-largest economy but more than 22 percent of the country lives in poverty. About 31 percent of the world’s multidimensionally poor children live in India, according to a report by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative. A multidimensionally poor child is one who lacks at least one-third of 10 indicators, grouped into three dimensions of poverty: health, education and standard of living.

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Sources:

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ANS – India – Assam CM inaugurates 4th Don Bosco College

Salesian Missions – India

World Bank – India