Chennai: Commending the value of education in most families in the state, President Ram Nath Kovind said the people of Tamil Nadu and institutions such as University of Madras are model for the country.
Delivering the 160th convocation address at the prestigious Madras University here on Saturday, he said, “The ability to pursue education as an end in itself as well as to help fill gaps in day-to-day lives of our fellow citizens is commendable. This has had a direct impact on social development indices and on the economy.”
“We are looking to become a developed society and to eliminate poverty. Simultaneously, our country is seeking to meet the opportunities as well as the challenges of the fourth industrial revolution of robotics, genomics and artificial intelligence,” he said.
He further said that institutions in Tamil Nadu have shown commendable agility in nurturing an ecosystem that helps engineers and other qualified young people to become entrepreneurs and job creators.
Terming universities navigators in this journey, he said, “Inevitably, it is to institutions such as these that we turn for direction and leadership at the beginning of the 21stcentury.”
Heaping praise on the University of Madras, the President said, “No other University in India can make the claim that six former Presidents – six of my distinguished predecessors – are old students.”
“Dr S. Radhakrishnan, Dr V.V. Giri, Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy, R. Venkataraman, Dr K.R. Narayanan and Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam all studied here before eventually graduating to the highest office in Rashtrapati Bhavan,” Kovind said.
He also urged the university to aspire to the next level, to benchmark itself against the best in the world, and to continue to remain competitive for top students as well as top faculty.
Governor Banwarilal Purohit presided over the special convocation.
In a rare event, M. Abirami, the gold medal winner in the faculty of law gave a speech at the convocation.
P. Duraisamy, Vice-Chancellor, University of Madras presented the convocation report. A total number of 582 graduates including 92 prize winners and 78 rank holders received their degrees in person and 77,350 received their degree in absentia.
President’s wife Savita Kovind, Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam, higher education minister and pro-chancellor of the university K.P. Anbalagan also participated in the event.
Later, the President also participated in the 42nd convocation of the Guru Nanak College and inaugurated the Guru Amar Das Block and Shaheed Baba Deep Singh Auditorium of Guru Nanak College in Velachery, Chennai.
