Institutions of Parish
Keeping in mind, the financial sustainability of the parish and the benefit of the parishners and neighbours, the Kanyakumari parish has taken a few viable projects.
St. Joseph Primary School:
Discussion of Fr. Leo Bold with the village elders gave birth to the primary school in Kanyakumari in the year 1898. In 1911 the school building was constructed and 1949 it was renovated by Fr. Ephram Komas. New building was constructed and inaugurated on 1st July 1992 with the hard work of Fr. Martin Alangaram. Presently 540 students studying here.
St. Antony’s Higher Secondary School:
The school started as English Medium Middle school in 1921. It was upgraded as High School in 1948 and functioned till 1953. As per the instruction of the government, during 1953 the school was converted in to Tamil Medium School. Since 1981 it is functioning as Higher Secondary School. Totally 50 teaching and non teaching staff are working and 1320 students are studying.
Our Lady of Ransom Community Hall
An existing marriage hall was renovated and renamed as Our Lady of Ransom Community Hall and opened on 15th August 2003. The hall is offered at a concessional charge to the parishers for celebrating social functions such as marriage, engagements and first communion. The services were also available to those from outside the parish or from other places. In addition the Community Hall is also used for the major programmes of the parish such co-ordination meetings and specific trainings.
Our Lady of Ransom Market
Considering the difficulties of small business people and vendors particularly women fish vendors, the parish council took the decision to establish a market in the name of church. Accordingly, the market was inaugurated by on 15th January 2004. Since that day the market is functioning from 8 am to 2 pm to sell the fishes and vegetables. Other shops are functioning depending on the need and convenience of the people. Totally 20 shops are there including TV and cell repairing shops, tailoring and stationery shops.
Our Lady of Ransom Boat Yard
Since the primary occupation of the village people is fishing, boat construction and repairing are major requirements. For such services, they were depending on the nearby village boat yards, which was more expensive and time consuming. Keeping this in mind the parish council decided to establish a boat yard for their village. With the support of Basic Christian Community saving money, they established the boat yard on 24th September 2004. Now the fishermen use the boat yard for construction of new boats and to repair their existing ones.
Ice plant
As the primary occupation of the people of Kanyakumari parish was fishing, they had to heavily depend on ice to preserve the fish. They had to pay exorbitant prices for ice and at times it was not available for them in time. Hence, in the post tsunami context, the parish council took a decision to establish an ice plant. An existing ice plant was bought and renovated with the people’s contribution in addition the generous support extended by Jon Bonal Foundation, Spain and Charity of St. Anne Sisters, Kanyakumari. The plant was inaugurated on August 8, 2005 by Most Rev Leon A. Dharmaraj, the then Bishop of Kottar in the presence of Fr. Martin Alangaram and Fr. Leon S. Henson among other dignitaries. It is managed by the parish council and very useful to the fishermen of Kanyakumari, Chinna Muttom and those use the harbor at Chinna Muttom. In addition to catering to the needs of the deserving fishermen, it is a source of sustainable income to the parish.
Resource Centre
Being a big parish and tourist centre the need to support the local people and the outsiders visiting the parish or village with information of various types was felt for a long time. With the support of Nehru Yava Kendra and the Salvation Army, a Resource Centre was established in the year 2005. The main activities of the centre are documentation and dissemination. Information on the demographic details of the parish and the village are maintained. All the activities of the various committees and institutions of the parish were maintained here. Information related to educational institutions, government programmes and schemes and services of NGOs are documented. The resource centre also has three computers, printers and Xerox machine. Who ever in need of information visit the centre and they could read, take Xerox or take a soft copy in a CD. To suit the needs of the people, the resource centre functions from 9 am to 2 pm and 5 pm to 8 pm.
Institutions Images
