Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma today laid the foundation of Rev. Fr. Joseph Bacchiarello annexe in the presence of the management, staff and students at St. Anthony’s College.
The new annexe is an additional building dedicated to expand the college library, house the undergraduate and post graduates science departments and the Northeast India Audio Visual Archive.
It is named after Rev. Fr. Bacchiarello who was the founder and the first Principal of St. Anthony’s College, Shillong during the years 1934-1935. During the British Raj, Fr. Bacchiarello, the pioneering Principal, rose to the compelling demand for higher education to the deprived indigenous locals and started the college in 1934.
St. Anthony’s College is the first institution of higher education by the Don Bosco Society worldwide. This year also marks the centenary celebration of arrival of the Salesians in Meghalaya.
Principal, Br. Albert L Dkhar shared the magnitude of the Fr. Joseph BacchiarelloAnnexe, which will be a five-storey building in an area of 3445 square metres.
Rev. Fr. Paul Olphindro Lyngkot, SDB, Provincial of the Shillong Province also graced the occasion and blessed the site and laid the foundation stone.
Speaking at the ceremony, the chief minister highlighted on his innovative approaches to governance driven by technology, innovation and particularly focusing on the partnership with educational institutions and research driven solutions to various local problems.
He also recalled the humbling experiences of student’s years of his late Father Purno A Sangma in Shillong and shared several anecdotal memoirs of his students’ years at St. Anthony’s College.
