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PAST PUPILS

Don Bosco Past Pupils association was formed in the province for the first time in 1988 with the appointment of Fr. Neernakunnel Cyriac (N.J.) as the provincial delegate. He was instrumental in beginning a unit in Ukhrul in Manipur, Tinsukia in Assam (for Bible School students of Arunachal Pradesh) and a few others. But due to various reasons it did not take off as expected though there were a large number of past pupils in the region. In Assam the association was not encouraged for a long time because of the Students Union Movements that created lots of problems to educational institutions in the 1980s. In Arunachal Pradesh till a few years ago there were no Salesian institutions to organize them. And even when the institutions started much of the attention was given to establishing the mission stations on a right footing. Most institutions are only a few years old and it will take a little more time for this movement to take of in Arunachal Pradesh. However few units existed in the states of Manipur and Nagaland.
 
The movement has received a new lease of life with the new Provincial Delegate, Fr. Chittissery Joseph taking keen interest in organizing and guiding this movement. An annual meeting of the Past Pupils’ Association was held at the Provincial House, Dimapur, on 19 May 2007 with the National President, Mr. Rajesh Gupta presiding. There were many delegates and representatives from the various centers of the province. Many centres where the association had not been in existence also took part in the meeting.
 
Besides Mr. Rajesh Gupta, National President, Fr. Nestor Guria, Vice Provincial of Dimapur Province, Fr Joseph Chittissery, Provincial Delegate and Rev. Fr. Peter Salew, Provincial Delegate for the Salesian Family were also present.
 
During the meeting the election of the new office bearers to the Provincial Committee was held. The following are the new office bearers:  
 
President                     :           Francis Pelevituo Solo
Vice-President              :          Daniel Cameron
Vice President (GEX)    :          Jacinta Kapani
Secretary                     :          Paromita Sharma
Treasurer                     :          Stephen Kamson
Councillors                  :          Maria Crerar
                                             Andrew Nicolous Crerar
                                             Hillang Taju
                                                            Anil Sagolsem
                                                            John Tep
 
The meeting of executive committee of the province decided that the first priority should be given to revamping and reorganizing the past pupils units in various parts of the province and get the various units and members registered with the association. They also decided to start new units in the various centres of the province where it the association is non-existent.
 
New Units
 
This year the following units were opened in the Province and registered with the past pupils association.
 
Jorhat Unit
 
Through the initiative of the local delegate Fr. Benny Karinattu, the Headmaster of Don Bosco High School, Baghchung the past pupils were invited for a preliminary meeting. The meeting was attended by 119 past pupils. Fr. Chittissery Joseph, the provincial delegate, Mr. Daniel Cameron, the provincial vice president, Miss Paromita Sharma, the provincial secretary and a former headmaster of the school, Fr.Philip Puthettupadavil were also present for the meeting.
 
 
The office bearers elected were:
President                                  :           Sanjiv Kumar Duari
Vice-President (Senior)              :           Dr. Rashmi Ranjan Rajkhowa
Vice-President (GEX)                 :           Md. Ashrif Ullah
Secretary                                  :           Arnika Mahanta
Treasurer                                   :           Abhishek Jain
Councillors                                :           Polash Pegu, Wasim Hazarika
 
The new unit has already sprung into action. They have held the meeting of the executive committee a number of times. The registration of members is on and they have decided to open a website for the unit. A painting competition is planned for the schools of Jorhat on 2 October 2007.
 
Dergaon Unit
 
The Dergaon unit was formed on 25th March 2007. 15 were registered on that day. The members are all the recently passed out students of the school.
 
The office bearers are:
 
President                      : Miss Maria Crerar
Vice President               : Mr Tridip Bapanasha
Secretary                      : Miss Anima Hazarika
Treasurer                       : Miss Kakoli Saikia
 
Other Units under formation
Wokha in Nagaland and Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh are two other units under formation.
 
 
Activities Planner at the Provincial Level:
 
1.       The activities planned for this year is the renewal and revitalization of existing units and formation of new units where we do not have past pupils association.
2.       Annual Past Pupils Day in January 2008 at Dibrugarh.
 
Other Activities:
 
The various local units are organizing various activities for their area. Some of them are:
1.                   Friendship Day
2.                   Sharing sessions
3.                   Cultural Programmes
4.                   Felicitation of teachers
5.                   Awareness programmes
6.                   Competitions for various groups