KOVIND ATTENDS SIKKIM UNIVERSITY'S CONVOCATIONCall for varsities to serve society

RAJEEV RAVIDAS, TT, 4 November 2019, Gangtok: President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday asked universities to emulate the business world by initiating a programme on the lines of corporate social responsibility to better the lot of the society at large.

Speaking at the fifth convocation of the Sikkim University at Mannan Kendra here, the President urged institutions to send students to spend time at villages to improve people's living conditions.

"At the governors' conference in New Delhi in June last year, I had suggested and it was accepted that like corporate social responsibility, universities should initiate university social responsibility," he said.

Urging students to work with people in improving cleanliness, health, Ram Nath Kovind at the convocation of the Sikkim University in Gangtok on Sunday immunisation, education and nutrition parameters at villages under the USR, Kovind said universities should also adopt villages in their vicinity to achieve these objectives. He reminded students that the ultimate aim of education was to become good human beings irrespective of the profession.

The President has said Sikkim has a strong possibility to become a model of development for other hill states of the country. "Sikkim has set an example in education, health, sanitation and protection of wildlife. It has also set an example before the rest of the country in organic farming and in becoming a clean, pollution-free state," he said.

The Kovind presented special gold medals to 10 students. Around 1,500 students, who passed out in 2017, 2018 and 2019, were awarded degrees on Sunday. Over 200 students were awarded gold and silver medals. Of the 122 gold medallists, 74 were girls.

Kovind also lauded the Sikkim University by acknowledging that in a short span of 12 years, it had made serious efforts to develop the intellectual and cultural understanding of the people of the Eastern Himalayas..