TU students will contribute to tion building mission: Governor

From a Correspondent

Tezpur, June 25: Urging the student’s community to be sincere in showing utmost honour to their parents and elders of the society, giving priority to the sense of belonging, Minister for Health, Education, Family Welfare, Fince and other departments, Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said that if there was a god in this universe, it was none other than parents and the elders of the society that they belong.

The minister, who was addressing a mammoth gathering on the occasion of 13th convocation of Tezpur University held at the Assembly Auditorium of Kendriya Vidyalaya in the University campus, in his speech further said that the smiles of the students receiving awards and diploma would have to continue in the days to come.

In the convocation more than 1,000 students were conferred Degrees of PhD, Masters, Bachelors and other diplomas. While 123 students received PhD degrees, 28 students were awarded with gold medals, one student with ‘T & I Best Post Graduate Award’ and one student with Best Under-Graduate Award.

Dr Sarma, while referring to the scholastic capabilities of Chaikya and Koutilya, further said that in India people were always sincere about talking about the scholastic capabilities of the great men. He said that that 88 per cent students in the country were still deprived of higher education. “There are 700 universities and 35,000 colleges in our country, yet we cannot absorb our talents, so we will have to expand more colleges and universities,” he said, adding that universities had to take the responsibility of employability and equity for the generations.

Speaking about the career choice by the students, he also said, “Our students are often seen getting confused on how and what kind of education to choose for building their career. This confusion adversely hampers the students. So we will have to do away with such things.” Recalling the supreme sacrifice of the martyrs who had lost their lives in the Assam Agitation, he also said that Tezpur University had a specialty in comparison to other universities as it was a fruition of the supreme sacrifice of those martyrs who lost their lives for the development of the Assamese tion. “Our region is plagued with a number of problems, including forest and environmental degradation, social unrest, flood and erosion. I would like to urge upon the University authority to make a route map to address these issues with the help of the scientists and the scholars created by it,” he stressed, and added that the university would have to provide a shape to the society’s future.

Attending the programme as chief guest, former Director of the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, and space scientist, Prof. Jitendra th Gosewami in his speech said that global competition, tiol imperatives and regiol and local aspirations were the guiding principles of the universities. “Unfortutely the State universities often suffer from certain constraints, starting from overload of students at all levels, from undergraduate to postgraduate, lack of generous funds to compete at the tiol level, and shortage of faculty members having in-depth teaching and research experience. During the last decades perusing higher study outsides the State has also become a trend. There is nothing wrong in going out and learning in well known places anywhere within the country or even abroad, but whatever little information I could gather, this is not always the case. It has simply become a trend amongst those who can afford and it appears, a difficult trend to reverse and the local academic institutes have to live with it. This is where the two central universities in Assam can play major role. In fact during an earlier visit to this university, I found that commendable programmes have already been initiated in this direction,” he said.

Congratulating the students for their sterling performance Prof. Goswami further said that they would be the torch bearers of the university from now onwards. “Tezpur University provided a platform to you to shape your life. Culmition of your studies here is a moment of pride for you as much as it is for your teachers, parents and those who have helped in shaping your life. The journey will not end here, it is only the beginning and you have to pave your own path in the coming days,” he said.

Chairman of the All India Council for Technical Education, New Delhi, Prof. Anil D. Sahasrabudhe who also attended the august occasion as a guest of honour, while appreciating the performance of the university, said that there were very few universities which had been able to make a mark in a short period of 20 years. “Tezpur University has been an exception by not just making a mark for itself but also finding itself among the top universities in India. It is indeed rare that a university has the distinction of being recognized by the President of India with the Visitor’s Best University Award,” he said.

Prior to this, the Chancellor of the university, Assam Governor, PB Acharya, while conferring the degrees and diplomas to the students, observed that students of the university were regularly getting placement in reputed institutions and organizations of the country and abroad as well. “This bears testimony to the quality education that is being imparted at the university. I am confident that these graduates will not only add to the critical mass of our society, but will also make very significant contribution to the mission of tion building,” he said, adding that no one could think of the modern day society and culture of Assam without the pioneering contribution of the great religious teacher, social reformer and philosopher, Mahapurush Shrimanta Sankarvdeva. He also said, “I am aware that Tezpur is place of civilization encounter -this is the place where the east of India met with its west.”

In his speech he also said that the first and foremost goal of any university was to empower the students with knowledge. “Our graduates should be an asset to their family, village, state and above all to the tion,” he said.