India has a great heritage and you should feel proud as inheritors of the great Indian culture. Unity in diversity and being rooted into our culture is important for integrity of our country,” said Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu while addressing the 13th Convocation of the KIIT University here on Saturday.
India is a land of opportunities. One can achieve anything with hard work and passion irrespective of one’s background. Former President Dr Kalam and Prime Minister Modi are examples of this, he said.
“I have come to the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) before also to address 25,000 tribal students living and studying there. I thank Prof Achyuta Samanta for creating two beautiful institutions like KIIT and KISS. He is educating 25,000 poor children. It is a great service to humanity; and service to humanity is service to God. May God bless him to do many more such work,” Naidu said.
He advised students to remember four things: mother, mother tongue, motherland and guru and told them to develop the ability to adapt to the rapidly-changing work environment and strive to be the best in their chosen fields.
Total 4,820 students of the 2016-17 graduating batch of the university received their degrees.
Guest of honour Governor Dr SC Jamir said the KIIT is weaving an effective global network for knowledge, skill and cultural exchange. KIIT and KISS founder Prof Samanta is a best example and motivation for this, he added.
The university honoured three eminent personalities from different walks of life with D.litt. They were eminent sculptor Raghunath Mohapatra, Dr Bithal Das Mundhra, Chairman Emeritus, Simplex Infrastructures ltd, and Kishanlal Agarwal, Chairman, Bhartia Charitable TrustIJ.
Chancellor Dr Subrat Kumar Acharya said, “This university is the result of the exemplary vision and passion of a single individual, Prof Achyuta Samanta, who believes in the mission of ‘poverty eradication through education and the principle of art-of-giving’. This year, the KISS has achieved the distinction of being recognised as the first tribal university of the world.”
Earlier in his report, Vice-Chancellor Dr Hrushikesha Mohanty said the university’s research output has been on an upward rise. Number of publications indexed in Scopus and Web of Science has reached close to 3,200 and the number of patents filed this year has risen to 32, he informed. Registrar Dr Sasmita Samanta proposed a vote of thanks.