In the midst of an unprecedented crisis in the confrontation with Lt. Governor Kiran Bedi over decision-making in the Union Territory, Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy took time off the battlefield to distribute degrees to graduates at the Pondicherry University.
The Chief Minister also led a two-minutes observance of silence for the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) soldiers, who lost their lives during the Pulwama bombing in Kashmir. In his address at the 26th annual convocation of the central university, Justice Permod Kohli, former Chief Justice of Sikkim High Court, called upon central universities to become role-models for other institutions in all aspects, including governance, faculty, curricula and infrastructure.
‘Not a mere ritual’
While advocating high quality research that resulted in the betterment of society, he said: “Imparting education just for earning is not the only aim of educational institutions. The convocation of an university is not a mere ritual where certificates and degrees are to be distributed. It carries in its arms a much more relevant and significant message.”
“Learning seats like universities must imbibe a culture for enhancement,addition and expansion of knowledge. Innovation in the teaching methods blended with technology, research oriented knowledge and its use for the welfare of the society in general and deserving sections in particular,” he said. “I have observed that the higher education of India has witnessed tremendous changes since independence to cope up with the global job market. Our talent in the higher education sector is most sought after by not only the developing countries like Singapore, Australia, Malaysia and Maldives, but also the developed countries like USA, UK, France and other European countries.
Justice Kohli also paid tributes to the city observing that it was referred by names such as ‘Quintessence of French Culture’, ‘India’s Little France’ and ‘The French Riviera of the East’.
He noted that the Tamil poet, Subramania Bharathiar chose this place to write some of his revolutionary poems. The city also happens to be the birthplace of another illustrious Tamil poet, Bharathidasan while Sri Aurobindo , the saint philosopher, chose to live here along with the Mother to establish the globally revered, Sri Aurobindo Ashram.
‘Hub of education’
He complimented the university for growing over the years to “become a hallmark on the educational hub of the country” with 15 schools, 37 departments and 10 centres offering 175 PG and research programmes.
The university, which has over 400 faculty and 7,100 students from across the country on its rolls, is the only one which is selecting students through an All-India Common Entrance Examination, he said.
R. Radhakrishnan, MP (Lok Sabha), N. Gokulakrishnan, MP (Rajya Sabha), Pondicherry University Vice-Chancellor Prof. Gurmeet Singh were among those who participated. During the 26th Convocation, 312 candidates were conferred Ph.D. degrees and 204 gold medals were awarded to toppers in various disciplines in the UG, PG and Ph.D. programmes for the academic year 2016-17. Besides, Master of Philosophy (M.Phil) degrees were awarded to 43 candidates, Post Graduates (PG) degree to 3,667, Under Graduates (UG) degree to 10,874, Post Graduates Diploma degree to 326 and Certificates in-absentia to 64 candidates.
In total, 18,624 candidates were presented their degrees. Prof. Balakrishnan, director of studies, Prof. Rajee Jain, director of culture, Dr. Sasi Kanta Dash, registrar, Shri Prakash, rinance officer, Dr. B. Chitra, controller of examinations (i/c), DGP Sundari Nandha, all other deans of various schools, heads of the departments and officers participated.
