NEHU can play a catalytic role for development of NE: President

The President, who was on a maiden visit to the state, was addressing the 26th Convocation of the University which conferred degrees to a total of 14,502 students on Monday.

Kovind said it was heartening to note that besides imparting higher education in all the major disciplines, the university is also giving special emphasis on the development of this region, which has significant tribal population.

He said institutions of higher education like NEHU can also be instruments of social and economic transformation and felt that the university can help Meghalaya in achieving better ranking on Human Development Indices.

Stating that more than 80 per cent population of Meghalaya is dependent on agriculture, the President said, “By helping improve agricultural productivity, NEHU can play a catalytic role in promoting socio-economic development of Meghalaya and the North-East.”

According to him, students and teachers of NEHU’s departments of ‘Rural Development and Agricultural Production’, ‘Agri Business and Food Technology’, and ‘Horticulture’ can help enhance farmers’ income.

He was also of the view that the ‘Department of Forestry’ being set up here will also have major opportunity to contribute to growth and development of the people of Meghalaya and other states in the region.

“I have been told that the university community has completed several research projects related to development of the people in this region. I expect NEHU to continuously explore areas of relevant learning covering local to global issues,” Kovind said.

Asserting that the efforts of the University for promoting employability and self-employment need utmost encouragement, he said that he was also happy to note that ‘Deen Dayal Upadhyay Community College’ has been established by the university to impart skill-based education.

He said NEHU has set up an incubation centre in collaboration with the Government of Meghalaya to strengthen the start-up ecosystem and thereby encourage the culture of commercial and social entrepreneurship.

The President also told the students that they are entering a world full of opportunities and challenges. He said higher education is a privilege not available to a lot of people in our country.

Appealing to the students to help improve the condition of underprivileged fellow citizens, he said, “I also urge upon you to give back to the society in whatever way you can.”

Congratulating the students, the President expressed happiness that out of all medal awardees, as many as 76 per cent are girls and said, “This reflects our society’s progress and points towards our bright future as a developed nation.”

On the growing international links of the university, he said some of the departments of the university have started enrolling students from Thailand, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Africa and the Middle East adding this promotes cultural cohesion and cross-pollination of learning.

Meanwhile, the President also remembered late Purno Agitok Sangma and said his life-story was very inspiring as he showed extraordinary strength of character to scale great heights of achievement.

“As we all know, he rose to become Chief Minister of Meghalaya and later, Speaker of Lok Sabha. It was a coincidence that he happened to be the Speaker when I was member of Rajya Sabha. We had interacted on several occasions. I think that the young students sitting here can draw strength from his example,” he said.

He said students of the university can also seek inspiration from illustrious alumni like KJ Alphons, who joined the IAS, became Rajya Sabha Member and a Union Minister and Professor David Syiemlieh who became Chairman of Union Public Service Commission.

In his speech as guest of honour, Governor Tathagata Roy said as one of the premiere institutes of the North Eastern Region, NEHU has transformed the lives of the youth of the region.

The Governor said that as the Chief Rector of the university, he has had the opportunity to interact and deliberate with faculty members and students on various issues concerning the university to understand the challenges faced by the university in grooming the young minds in their pursuit towards a better future.

The university needs to incorporate the diversity of the needs of the society and to be relevant to the corporate world, said the Governor and felt the need to review and restructure the curriculum to enable the students to explore different avenues that are emerging today.

On the other hand, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma in his address as special guest said that NEHU has been an educational hub to a lot of students of this region and the journey that NEHU has taken through the years has brought the difference to thousands of lives of the students who had the opportunity to study here.

Education has been a big priority for us, and as a Government we will continue to focus on providing quality education right from primary level or at higher secondary level as well as higher and technical education, he said.

The chief minister also said if you look at what’s happening in the world today, the economy is changing, the world is changing and the kind of job opportunities that were there, maybe five years back, may not be there in the coming years.

“The young minds need to think about these changes that are happening around and we as a Government feel that it is important to create opportunities for the young minds. The youth should take risks and try to do something that is going to transform humanity forever and that is a kind of challenge that I want to give each and every one of you today here,” he added.

Later, the President also handed over the  President of India Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma Gold medal for the year 2019 to Taba Yehi, Department of Botany in recognition of her general proficiency, Srimati Sarada Krishna Iyer memorial Award to Pdianghun K. Warjri who secured highest marks in MA Political Science Examination held in the year 2019, U Tirot Sing Memorial Prize to Dicky Christopher R. Sangma  of Mendipathar College who secured the highest marks in Political Science BA (Honours) Examinations in the year 2019, Professor M. K. Khare Memorial Prize to Mary Lalruatsangi for being the highest scorer in the MSc (Zoology) Examination for the year 2019, Rajendra Kumar Sunaheri Devi Jain Charitable Endowment Award to Neha Dutta who passed the BSc (Honours) Zoology Examination in the first class securing very high percentage of marks in the year 2019, Professor M. N. Karna Young Sociologist Prize to Bichano Lotha, Department of Sociology for being the highest scorer in the MA, (Sociology) Examination for the year 2019, Dr. D. S. Babu Memorial Award to Chinchanbeni N. Odyuo, Department of Education who secured highest marks in MA (Education) Examination held in 2019, U Kiang Nangbah Memorial Award for the year 2019 to Jordan Kharsyntiew, Department of Tourism & Hotel Management who has been adjudged on the basis of excellence and quality of rendering service to the people and Professor S. S. Khare Promising Mathematician Award to Diamond Kharkongor Department of Mathematics for being the highest scorer in the M.Sc. Mathematics Examination for the year 2019.

Of 14,502 students who received their degrees, 136 are PhD, 41 M.Phil, 1342 Post Graduates and 12983 Bachelor’s Degrees.

By Our Reporter