Dergaon: God’s Own Village

Dergaon, shortened version of the original name ‘Deor gaon’ which meant ‘God’s village’, is a town with a population of approximately 14,000 inhabitants in the Golaghat district of Assam. Ecclesiastically it is under Golaghat Parish in the Diocese of Dibrugarh. Some remember it mainly for being famous for the marauding army of roaming monkeys, who had once become an election issue! But Dergaon can truly boast of having a police training center, DKD College, which is one of the three The foundation stone of the new school best colleges in Northeast India, many good building was blessed by Fr. Variyathukalayil educational institutions including Don Bosco Joseph sdb, Economer of Dimapur Province, High School, Dergaon. on 24 February 1995. The two Salesians shifted The Dergaon mission took shape when on 11 March 1993, Fr. Theophilus Ganlari to the new building, one staying in the office and the other in the staff room. sdb, then parish priest of Golaghat, bought On 17 January 1996 Sr. Bernadette FMA 10 bighas of land at Dergaon. From 1994 Fr. and Sr. Rani FMA arrived to commence their Benjamin Toppo sdb looked after the centre apostolate. On 24 January 1996 the ‘Maria from Golaghat. Two more bighas of land were Niwas’ Convent was inaugurated by Fr. purchased. On 11 January 1995 Fr. Mathew Varghese Palathingal sdb and blessed by Bishop Narimattam sdb took charge of the centre and Joseph Aind of Dibrugarh, in the presence of looked after it from Jorhat. A room in the house Sr. Ivy D’Souza, the FMA Provincial. A hostel, of Mr. Amulya Hazarika served as his office. meant primarily for the Mising students, was

On 07 February 1995 Fr. Mathew and Fr. begun on18 January 1998. Theophilus came to reside in a rented house Don Bosco School, Dergaon, which began at Dergaon. It was blessed by Fr. Mathew with 84 nursery students in a thatched shed, Pulingathil sdb, Rector of Rua Home, Jorhat. A has now grown into a full-fledged Don Bosco thatched shed was built and the nursery classes High School with 1100 students. began on 01 March 1995 with 84 students On 24 Oct. 2015, on the second day of the in two divisions. The school was blessed by Province-level DB Bicentenary celebrations, Fr. Varghese Palathingal sdb, Provincial of the students of Don Bosco, Dergaon, bagged Dimapur Province. the second prize in the junior category of the Don Bosco Quiz competition. In the 2016 HSLC examinations Don Bosco School, Dergaon, obtained 100% pass results, with 53 of the 57 candidates passing in the 1st division. Currently the confreres at DBS Dergaon are: Fr. N. J. Cyriac (In-Charge, Headmaster & Administrator, Fr. E. C. Michael (Asst. HM & Counselor), and Fr. Anthony Toppo (Law student). DL Correspondent Dimapur Links: Sept. - Oct. 2016 /13