A Correspondent
Tezpur: Tezpur University organized its XVI Convocation on Thursday at the Kalaguru Bishnu Prasad Rabha auditorium of the university with a total of 1,132 students been conferred upon degrees and diplomas.
Amongst them, 51 were awarded PhDs, 674 were awarded Masters degree, 352 under graduate degrees (B.Tech/B.Sc/BA), 25 PG Diplomas and 30 were awarded degrees and diplomas under the Open and Distance Learning programmes.
Professor (Dr.) Ramesh C. Deka, Professor Emeritus and advisor to Director Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna and former Director, AIIMS, New Delhi was the chief guest while Governor of Assam Prof. Jagdish Mukhi presided over the convocation as the Chancellor of the university.
Prof. Deka in his convocation address emphasized the importance of research as the most important function of a university and said that the postgraduates and research scholars, including the faculty members of the university, were expected to take up research with utmost commitment and sincerity, not only for their own career advancement but also for the larger benefit of the society. He urged the university community to go beyond the walls of the campus to reach the common people for understanding their needs. Prof. Deka further said that Tezpur had the potential of finding a place in the global map of research in biomedical engineering and services for human health care in the future.
“Tezpur has two health sciences institutions like a State medical college and a mental health hospital, and the university can collaborate with these institutions for undertaking inter and multi-disciplinary research activities in health sciences,” Prof. Deka observed.
Speaking on the occasion, Governor Mukhi said that as a product of the historic Assam Accord, Tezpur University had a very special status in the hearts and minds of the people of Assam. Prof. Mukhi said that the university was established with the objective of addressing the regional aspirations of the people of Assam with an eye for global technological innovation and excellence. “I feel proud that the research projects undertaken by the university, such as arsenic removal to working with snake venom, have direct impact on people’s lives,” he said.