(January 29, 2010) India’s Republic Day awards list this year has been a matter
of pride for the Christians in the country as several men and women from the community
have won India’s highest honours for their contribution in various fields. Of the
130 awardees, 9 are Christians. The fields from which these men and women were selected
are science and engineering, art, Literature and education, medicine, social work
and sports. Among them is a priest, Father Roumaldo D’Souza, founder of Goa Institute
of Management who has been honoured with Padma Bhushan for literature and education.
Though Christians form only 2.3 per cent of the nation’s population, they have won
9 of the 130 awards, or 7 per cent or 3 times more than their percentage of population.
It indicates that the Christian community is fully integrated and involved at every
level of nation-building.