Salesian College Sonada Alumnus of the 1977 batch, Bishop George, served Northeast India youth for some 50 years and was honoured for his pioneering efforts in empowering tribal people, especially the education of women and girls. Bishop George has been working tirelessly to preserve tribal dialects by codifying some of their languages into scripts. Besides supporting the continuity of tribal knowledge of medicines, he has also started modern educational institutes, hospitals, and healthcare facilities in remote regions.
1967 Salesian College Sonada batch Octogenarian Salesian Fr. Scaria, founder and director of Don Bosco Prison Ministry, was felicitated for 25 years of efforts in re-skilling, releasing, and rehabilitation. Some 25,000 prisoners have benefitted through his vocational training programs in several prisons across West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Bihar. Fr. Scaria is credited with establishing the only recognized Motor Driving School on a prison campus.
A senior journalist with Matters India web news portal and media practitioner Fr C. M. Paul, founder and director of the first Nepali language broadcasting Community Radio from Darjeeling, belongs to Salesian College Sonada 1975 batch. Started broadcasting in 2016 under the aegis of Salesian College Sonada, Radio Salesian is the first college-based Community Radio in North Bengal and entire northeast India.
Besides achievers from different walks of life felicitated at the event, there were four clergy and six high-ranking officials of Eastern Railway Sealdah, including the Principal Chief Engineer, Divisional Railway Manager, Additional Divisional Railway Manager, and Divisional Engineer Coordination.
Church Art, based out of Kolkata, is a pan-India initiative with global linkages engaged in promoting education, art, and Indian culture for the past 25 years under Shri Subrata Ganguly.
Bastin Nellissery (INK)
