Himachal University Convocation Held
Shimla: XVIIth Convocation of H.P. University was held here today. The Governor of Himachal Pradesh and Chancellor of H.P. University, Smt. Prabha Rau presided over. Union Finance Minster, Govt. of India Mr Parnab Mukherjee was the Chief Guest. Education Minister, I.D. Dhiman was also present. As many as 415 Degree’s, Medals and prizes were conferred and decorated including one D.Lit, 187 Ph.D.’s and 227 Medals and Prizes, during the convocation.
Delivering his Convocation address Parnab Mukherjee, Finance Minister, Government of India lauded the girl students out numbering the boys in receiving the prizes and added that Himachal Pradesh was one of few States in India which had the highest female literacy percentage.
Mukherjee said that there was no dearth of opportunities for educated young men and women in India and even abroad, but as they look towards the future and for furtherance of their career, they also need to look towards the interest of the country. He said that Convocation was more than an occasion where the degree-earners should pledge themselves to put their knowledge to work for the cause of human welfare.
The Finance Minister said that India was well on its way to becoming an economic power to reckon with and hence, the country needs more young people to take charge of its affairs.
The Finance Minister said that these days education is increasingly becoming means of earning more and more money and impressed upon the young men and women that this was a rather superficial aim of education. He stressed that to be educated, in the real sense, means to be cultured, to be humane and, finally, to be a good human being. Education, indeed, was a process whereby one gradually learns to exercise restraint over one’s primitive instincts as well as to radiate out towards humanity at large, overcoming selfishness, narrow mindedness and greed, he added.
He said that the Government of India has also initiated a National Skill Development Mission to create skills among youth which are commensurate with the requirements of the industry in this competitive world. He said that the present government at the Centre has set the stone rolling in terms of the National Knowledge Commission Report. It is committed to placing high priority on education as a central instrument for achieving rapid and inclusive growth with specific emphasis on expansion, excellence and equity. This is reflected in the proposed allocation of Rupees Three Trillion in the Eleventh Five Year Plan adopted by the National Development Council. It marks a four-fold increase over the Tenth Plan. The share of Education in the total Plan will accordingly increase from 7.7 to 20 per cent, representing a credible progress towards the target of 6 per cent of GDP.
The Governor of Himachal Pradesh Smt. Prabha Rau said that with the young graduates passing out with higher education have greater responsibility in the task of building of nation and added that the need of the hour was that education play a vital role in building a healthy society.
She said that true education was in fact unveiling of the knowledge within. We should strive to build a balanced and enlightened personality assimilating valuable ideas from everywhere. In the present world that is driven by science and technology, globalization and market economy, the pressures on the individual have increased and so have the opportunities, she added.
The chancellor said that tradition was not always old fashioned or oppressive, it is evolutionary over time and yet provides an anchor with its basic cultural values, such as the belief in plurality and diversity, global brotherhood, tolerance and goodwill towards humanity.
Education Minister, Himachal Pradersh I.D. Dhiman congratulated the students who were awarded degrees and medals on the successful completion of an extremely important and fruitful phase of their life.
He said that it is an undisputed fact that education in the present times is not a luxury permitting the privileged men and women to take advantage over others. It has become a necessity without which a person is defenceless in this complex, mechanized and materialistic world.
Prof. Sunil Kumar Gupta, Vice-Chancellor of Himachal Pradesh University thanked the Union Finance Minister and the Chancellor, Smt. Prabha Rau and others.
