A CORRESPONDENT
DIBRUGARH: Vice President of India, Jagdeep Dhankhar, said that the Northeast is emerging as ‘the land of opportunities’, and the growth of India will remain incomplete without growth and the contribution of ‘Ashta Lakshmi (the Northeast).
The Vice President graced the 21st convocation ceremony of Dibrugarh University as the chief guest today when he conferred degrees to the students.
During the programme, the Vice President presented the prestigious D Litt degree in absentia to noted litterateur Nirupama Borgohain and the DSc degree to climatologist Bhupendra Nath Goswami.
He said, “Education is the most effective tool for transformation and progress in society. Nothing can change societal conditions more than people getting educated. I urge the students to be agents of change and work to bring about positive changes in society.”
He asked students to dream big and never take stress seriously. “Have a dream, but don’t be just a dreamer; be a doer.”
He commended Dibrugarh University for its work towards preserving the linguistic diversities and literary traditions of the region.
As many as 1,684 students were conferred their degrees during the convocation, which included PhD degrees for 75 students and M.Phil. degrees for 72 students. Gold medals were also awarded to 39 meritorious students. The best graduates of science, arts, and commerce were also awarded during the programme, while the Jonali Kropi Memorial Gold Medal and Endowment Award were presented to the students securing the highest marks in the department of anthropology.
‘‘Dibrugarh University has been making rapid strides in the field of quality education. Dibrugarh University was one of the 75 institutions to be a part of the G20 University Connect programme,” the Vice President said.
Expressing happiness over the inclusion of Northeast India’s mainstream narrative in Amritkal, the Vice President praised NCERT (the National Council of Educational Research and Training) and the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) for highlighting the contribution of the unsung heroes of the Northeast in the history and freedom movement of India.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said in his address that the younger generation, instead of hankering after jobs, should try to create jobs for others through entrepreneurship. He also appreciated the pioneering role of Dibrugarh University in the field of higher education and research.
He said that Dibrugarh University has to sustain its role to propel the academic development of the state and take its academic journey to a greater height. Referring to universities like Nalanda and Texila that reflected the academic prowess of the country, the Chief Minister said that to maintain the toeing line of the ancient universities, the state universities will have to maintain the streak to ensure the progress of the state driven by education.
Governor Gulab Chand Kataria, State Education Minister Ranoj Pegu, Union MoS for Petroleum and Natural Gas Rameswar Teli, and Dibrugarh University Vice Chancellor Dr. Jiten Hazarika were among those present during the programme.
IANS adds: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Wednesday wondered “why some of us decry our democracy within and outside the country”, while describing India as “the mother of democracy and the world’s most vibrant democracy”.
Dhankar’s jibe was apparently aimed at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who had said in a Cambridge University lecture that India’s democracy is under threat.
Calling Parliament “the temple of our democracy”, the Vice President emphasised that it is a platform where issues of public interest are debated, deliberated, discussed and decided, but prolonged disruptions, he added, undermine the esteem and confidence which people repose in their representative institutions.
Therefore, he called for generating an ecosystem so that “the parliamentarians respond positively to the spirit and essence of the founders of our Constitution”.
He underlined that freedom of expression has not been subjected to any enforced silence in India.
Dhankhar also said that education is the most effective and transformative mechanism to bring about equity, equality and progress in society.
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