Guwahati: The spirit and message of St Teresa of Calcutta will now inspire students of the most venerable universities in Assam – Guwahati University, Dibrugarh University and Cotton College State University – to get involved in social service. The development comes close on the heels of the canonisation of Mother Teresa in Rome.
The vice-chancellor of Gauhati University, Mridul Hazarika, said that the values and work for which Mother Teresa dedicated her entire life had a huge relevance in today’s society. “We will work out a few social projects as a mark of respect to St Teresa and involve students as well as faculty to serve those in need,” Hazarika said.
Alak Kumar Buragohain, the vice-chancellor of Dibrugarh University, said his university was hugely inspired by the fact that a social worker from India had been elevated to the level of a saint. He said the university planned to involve itself in a big way in projects to reach out to the poor in future, Don Bosco India, reported.
The vice-chancellor of Cotton College State University, Dhruba Jyoti Saikia, said his university had launched a project as part of the post-graduate curriculum to involve students in social responsibility projects to serve different communities. He said St Teresa’s ideals and works would be one of the main components of the university’s social responsibility project. Prof. Saikia, an eminent astrophysicist, said there was an urgent need for universities to produce committed social workers like her.
Father V.M. Thomas, Provincial who recently attended Mother Teresa’s canonisation ceremony in Rome, said the saint had visited Assam several times for charity work and he considered himself fortunate to have worked with her on several projects.
Father Thomas said Saint Teresa showed a commitment to uplifting society, which very few leaders have been able to demonstrate in the last century. “I deeply feel that the best way to celebrate the canonisation of Mother will be by building awareness and doing things closest to her heart, which Assam’s universities have planned to do,” Fr Thomas, who is organising various events in the city to pay tribute to the saint, said.