NEP 2020 to bring about equity at primary and secondary levels: Pokhriyal
RONO HILLS, Nov 30: Babul Kalita, master of science (chemistry) received the Chancellor’s Gold Medal while Hage Tunya, bachelor of science (zoology) received the Vice Chancellor’s Gold Medal for the 2019-20 academic session during Rajiv Gandhi University’s (RGU) 18th convocation held here on Monday.
Kalita and Tunya received the awards as the overall toppers of the postgraduate and undergraduate course, respectively.
Addressing the gathering through videoconference, union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ congratulated RGU for securing the second position among the central universities of the country, and expressed hope that the university would reach greater heights with landmark achievements in the field of higher education.
Elucidating the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the minister said, “The main aim of the NEP 2020 is to bring about equity at the primary and secondary levels. It aims at achieving 100 percent enrollment by 2030 to realize the objective of education for all.”
“It (NEP 2020) is an important and decisive step towards combining the traditional knowledge system of India with modern scientific thoughts,” he said.
Terming the Covid pandemic a global challenge, the minister said “such threats will increase in the future and take up more complex forms, and the universities are the living laboratories where the solution to such problems can be found.”
He congratulated and commended RGU VC Prof Saket Kushwaha and his team for successfully conducting the routine activities during the Covid-19 pandemic, including taking online classes, organizing webinars at the national and international levels, safeguarding the university community from the virus by observing Covid-SOPs, conducting online examinations in a time-bound manner, and counselling the students and keeping their morale high.
“We have great expectations from RGU and firmly believe that it will fulfill all our expectations,” Pokhriyal said.
MoS for Youth Affairs & Sports Kiren Rijiju appealed to the state government and the public to extend their support in establishing RGU as a world-class university. He also called for resolving the encroachment issue, so that the university can acquire space to open up more centres.
Rijiju took the opportunity to highlight the significance of good mental and physical health for the development of the country, and stressed on the significance attached to physical education in the NEP 2020.
RGU Vice Chancellor Prof Kushwaha in his address thanked Chief Minister Pema Khandu for the growth of the lone central university of the state.
“The state government has cleared and released the funds of the 35-year-old long pending pension issues of its erstwhile Arunachal University staff,” he informed.
The VC spoke about the functioning of the university and its classes and examinations during the pandemic through the online mode, and expressed appreciation for the efforts of everyone for “facing the challenge in the right way.”
Besides highlighting the achievements of the university, Prof Kushwaha said that the UGC has sanctioned new faculties for agricultural sciences, sports sciences and law, while also informing that the departments of law, statistics and food technology have been opened with additional faculty positions.
“The opening of these new departments has created 102 new positions for appointment,” he said.
The dignitaries congratulated all the students and scholars for securing their degrees and wished them well for their future endeavours.
A total of 6,712 students, including 39 PhD scholars, 66 MPhil scholars, 572 postgraduate students and 6,035 undergraduate students were conferred with degrees.
Besides this, 25 students in graduation, 24 in postgraduation and one in MPhil were awarded gold medals for topping in their classes.
The convocation was also attended by Rajya Sabha member Nabam Rebia and Lok Sabha member Tapir Gao, who are also members of the university court.
RGU Registrar Dr NT Rikam, who also led the academic procession, delivered the vote of thanks.
The convocation was held in a blended (online/offline) mode, following Covid-SOPs.
The Vice Chancellor’s Gold Medal winners in master’s degrees of various faculties for the 2019-20 academic session are as follows.
Faculty of social sciences: Bandita Bharali (MPhil, anthropology) Nada Aku (anthropology), Nani Neha (economics), Limin Kamum (history), Sheri Ngukir (political science), Chara Janet Lowangcha (social work) and Riya Nunu (sociology).
Faculty of environment science: Manngam Wangpan (geography).
Faculty of education: Monika Sharma and Millo Mamung (education), and Rikam Sangyu (psychology).
Faculty of life sciences: Tage Kago Sunya (botany) and Pooja Kumari Kushwaha (zoology).
Faculty of basic sciences: Babul Kalita (chemistry), Archana Borah (mathematics) and Biswajit Pal (physics).
Faculty of languages: Bomkar Angu (English) and Lakhmi Rani Bora (Hindi).
Faculty of commerce and management: Manish Raj Jaishy (business management) and Ansula Ngadong (commerce).
Faculty of life information technology and engineering & technology: Bikash Chetry (electronics & communication engineering), Landionya Alisha (mass communication), Hage Nomo (MTech, computer science & engineering) and Buaya Devi (computer applications).
