Necessary Steps To Be Taken To Improve The Enrolment Of Girl Students In Technical Institutes: President Kovind At IIT Roorkee’s Convocation

IIT Roorkee celebrated its 19th Annual Convocation recently where the President of India graced the occasion as the chief guest. Governor Baby Rani Maurya, HRD Minister Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ Ji, Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat Ji also graced the occasion as guest of honor.

Speaking on the convocation, President of India Ram Nath Kovind said, “I am honored to be here at one of India’s oldest and pioneering Engineering Institute. For the graduating students, this occasion represents a major milestone. I congratulate you on this seminal occasion. You are leaving this historic campus for the excitement of a career in a world which is full of opportunities.”

“Many of the alumni of IIT Roorkee have been nation builders in true sense. I believe that this Institute’s alumni can and should contribute to their alma mater. All of them have fortunate to have received world-class education here. A huge part of the cost of their education has been borne by the taxpayers of the country. So, in whatever way you want, contributing back to society and helping underprivileged people is your moral responsibility & duty. Your contribution will help improve our education system and your effort will be appreciated,” he added.

The President not only lauded the university over its research projects and their achievements but also over their initiative of making the hostel timings the same for boys and girls. He said “The initiative is allowing girl students to work in their departments, labs, libraries in the same manner as the boy’s students. This is an example of giving girl students an equal opportunity to excel. I am sure this will positively impact the contributions of girl students and boost their self-confidence. Such steps will encourage girl students to take up scientific & technical education. Currently, the proportion of girl students in our scientific & technical institute is lower than desirable. This is a concern for everybody. Not only for the Government but for the society as well. We have to take the necessary steps to improve the enrolment of girl students in scientific & technical institutes of higher learning. When this happens our scientific achievement will become even wholesome and desirable.” 

“In the long term, our success lies in developing a culture of enterprise and ideas. We must nurture innovation and creativity. And I am happy to note that IIT Roorkee is doing just that. The TIDES business incubator here supports Start-ups and early-stage companies working on emerging technologies. Creative thinking on campus has been encouraged by doing away with a hierarchy among academics and by giving students representation in academic bodies and decision making," he added.

The President also urged the students to come back and contribute to the university.

HRD Minister Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ said, "I congratulate each and every student getting their degrees today. You are going into the world today after getting your degree from one of the most prestigious institutes. Your time to effectively & efficiently showcase your learnings from IIT Roorkee starts today. I am sure, you will through your technical & innovative prowess, contribute to our revolutionary schemes like Make in India, Start-up India, Stand-up India, will help achieve Hon’ble Prime Minister Modi’s dream of ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshth Bharat’ and will also help establish India as a global superpower. "

Speaking on the convocation, Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said, “There is happiness in our heart when we stand here at the convocation of the prestigious IIT Roorkee, which is an identity & pride of Uttarakhand. This Institute is one of the biggest contributors to providing qualified engineers across the world. When we talk about the country’s prestigious colleges, IIT Roorkee has its own niche. I would like to congratulate all the girls and boys who are being awarded their degrees here today. When you will graduate today from here, please think of how you will take your learning forward and how will you contribute back to engineering.”

A total of 2029 degrees were awarded this year. 1018 were undergraduate recipients, 702 were Post Graduate Recipients and 309 Ph.D. degrees were handed out to students.

This year total 41 Gold medals were awarded to students of various courses for securing the highest CGPA in their respective programmes and classes. President Gold medal for securing the highest CGPA amongst the graduating students was awarded to Pulkit Singal of B.Tech. Mechanical Engineering for securing 9.908 CGPA. Pulkit also got four other awards. He also received a cash prize of Rs 50,000 for his innovative B.Tech. The project which is started by one alumni of the Institute. Out of 41 Gold medalists, 12 were girl students. 

The Institute Bronze medalist Tanvi Verma, a student of B.Tech. Engineering Physics was another top performer of the graduating batch. She got a total of five medals/ awards. There were at least five girl students who got more than two awards in this convocation. This shows that girls are competing neck to neck with boys. It also embodies the BharatkiLaxmi philosophy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

This was the first time when IIT Roorkee gave out awards to Ph.D. scholars. A new award with the name of 'Excellence in Doctoral Research' was started this year. Three Ph.D. scholars who got their doctorate degree in the convocation got this award. It is similar to the Best Ph.D. award given in many other institutes. Dr Pallavi Gupta, Centre for Nanotechnology, Dr. Dhiraj Raj, Department of Earthquake Engineering and Dr. Yogeshkumar Manibhai Makwana, Department of Electrical Engineering received this award. Each of them got Rs 50,000 cash prize.

Speaking about the convocation, A. K. Chaturvedi, Director, IIT Roorkee, said, “The presence of the Honorable President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind made our 19th Convocation memorable. His address inspired the graduating students as they step out of IIT Roorkee into the real world. I am sure his words will resonate with them at every stage in their life.”

Data on the Graduating Students:

List of medal winners: