Kolkata (AsiaNews) - More than 60 thousand poor students from various Indian states will find work through a joint project of Salesians priests and the Indian Ministry for Agriculture and Rural Development. The initiative consists of three months of free training courses in hotel management, engineering, automobile construction, tailoring and handicrafts. This is the largest program undertaken by the government in collaboration with the Indian Catholic Church.

Fr. Robin Gomes, a Salesian missionary in Calcutta, says: "Over the last three years we have been discussing how to educate young people who are below the poverty line with the ministry. So we saw the possibility of conducting training in a specific area of learning funded by the Ministry using the over 100 Salesian technical institutes in India".

Fr. Gomes says the program is up and running since June 20 in the state of West Bengal. It involves students between 18 and 30 divided into classes of 60 people. "We are delighted – he adds  - to help and serve poor students and the country through this project. I hope that this cooperation between Church and government can continue in the future. "