Delhi University conducted its 95th convocation ceremony on Monday. Addressing the event, varsity’s vice chancellor, Yogesh Tyagi announced that this year DU will be undertaking a lot of of initiatives which includes establishment of the Delhi School of Public Health and the Delhi School of Public Policy, a Delhi University (DU) campus in Najafgarh and a hostel for foreign students.
“More than one lakh students graduated from the university this year”, said the VC. “DU is the only central university that has been selected as one of the eight Public Institutes of Eminence”. said Mr. Tyagi.
He said DU has come up as one of the few Institutes of Eminence (IoEs) in 2017-2018.
“This is the result of a rigorous process of selection led by an Empowered Expert Committee (EEC) pursuant to the UGC (Declaration of Government Educational Institutions as Institutions of Eminence) Guidelines, 2017”, he said.
“The selection was done on the basis of assessment of both the past performance and future plan of action of each one of the 113 applicant institutions. The University of Delhi is the only central university that has been selected as one of the eight public IoEs, although a formal announcement is eagerly awaited,” he said.
“The IoE status will enable the varsity to secure good financial support leading to new academic initiatives which would help serve the society better and thereby increase its ranking”, he added.
He also said the aim of the university is “to help build the cyber shield of India, as well as that of the world”. Saying that the work has already been started, he said, “We have begun the process by establishing the Institute of Cyber Security and Law. This is one of our major achievements in the year 2017-2018. The first batch of the students of the institute, who have joined the one-year program are present at the convocation”.
“The initial preparations are underway for the establishment of the Delhi School of Public Health and the Delhi School of Public Policy, both of which are envisaged in the IoE proposal”, he said.
“DU had been selected as one of the administrators of the Leadership for Academicians Program (LEAP)”, he announced.
“HRD Ministry has launched this innovation scheme to develop future academic leaders. It will help us to train these young minds in collaboration with a top ranking university in the world,” he added.
Announcing an MoU between DU and the german government, Prof Tyagi said, “ The varsity and the German government had developed an understanding to expand their partnership”.
“German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, along with his delegation, visited DU in March and, on his initiative, a mechanism has been established to offer funding and opportunities of exchange programmes to our researchers and faculty members,” Prof Tyagi said, adding it would enable them to access research facilities in German institutions.
Prof Tyagi said the varsity has launched a special drive to attract foreign students.
“We cooperate with various embassies and also with the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR). We have joined hands with the ICCR and plan to build a hostel for foreign students so that the housing facility constraint does not come in their way of studying at the University,” he added.
“Among other initiatives, the varsity was planning to construct a hostel with the CSR support of the ONGC”, he said.
“We deeply appreciate the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, which facilitated the CSR funding for the hostel project. Following the directions of the Delhi High Court, various government bodies and officials are working to enable the varsity to develop a campus in the Najafgarh area,” he said.
Vice President Venkaiah Naidu had attended the convocation ceremony. Also in attendance were 30 under-priviledged children from the Delhi University Social Centre Co-Ed Secondary School, Maurice Nagar and ClE Experimental Basic School who were each given a tablet which was loaded with useful study materials.
A total of 607 doctoral degrees, 39 DM/M degrees, 168 medals and 36 prizes were awarded to the students during the convocation.
After the ceremony was over, the students from the Delhi School of Journalism and ABVP staged a protest outside the Arts Faculty. While arts students protested saying their demand for adequate facilities had not been met despite assurances from the college administration, ABVP protested against the administration accusing them of delaying cancellation of admission of NSUI leader Akshay Kumar. An FIR had been registered against him for allegedly furnishing a fake degree this year.