The 25th Convocation Ceremony of Himachal Pradesh University Shimla was held here with Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' being the Chief Guest of the function.

As many as 448 Degrees and Gold Medals were awarded on the occasion to meritorious students, out of which 276 were females and 172 males.

In his address, Nishank congratulated the medal recipients and said youth of the country have a major role to play in the vision of ‘New India’ and urged the students to work with dedication to make India a five trillion economy in the next few years. He said that Union Government was coming up with new education policy to strengthen education system in the country and make education employment oriented.

Governor Bandaru Dattatraya  said today girls were excelling in every sphere of life. In most of the educational institutions, girls outnumber boys in the medals tally and said that it was a positive sign that the society was changing. He said 124 gold medals were also awarded on Friday in HP University, out of which 87 gold medals were in the name of girls. Similarly, 189 girls were awarded PhD degree out of the total 323 students and a total of 448 degrees and medals were awarded, of which 276 were girls.

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said that the State Government was committed to provide quality education to students of the State by strengthening the existing infrastructure. He said that the motto of the Government was to make Himachal Pradesh an ‘Education Hub’ of the country.

Expressing concern over increasing tendency of drug abuse among the youth, Thakur urged the students to make campaign against the drug abuse a movement, adding that this social vice was posing a threat for the very existence of the society. He also urged teachers and parents to come forward to wipe out this social vice from the society.

Union Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Anurag Singh Thakur said youth of our nation were the biggest strength of India and promised every possible support to strengthen the University.

Education Minister Suresh Bhardwaj said that the budget for the HP University has been increased to Rs. 130 crore, adding that New Education Policy being finalised by the Union Government will help India to regain its old glory as ‘Vishwa Guru’. He expressed hope that the University would continue to excel in the field of education, research and sports.

Vice Chancellor Himachal Pradesh University, Prof. Sikander Kumar said it was a historic day for Himachal Pradesh University as Union Human Resource Development Minister was the Chief Guest on the occasion of the 25th Convocation Ceremony. The Convocation started with entry of an academic procession.