City honours ?Milkman of India?

DR VERGHESE Kurien, who engineered the white revolution in the country, was honoured with an honorary D Litt (management stream) by Madhya Pradesh Governor and Chancellor of Universities Balram Jakhar at the second special convocation ceremony of Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya on Sunday.

DR VERGHESE Kurien, who engineered the white revolution in the country, was honoured with an honorary D Litt (management stream) by Madhya Pradesh Governor and Chancellor of Universities Balram Jakhar at the second special convocation ceremony of Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya on Sunday.

HT Image

While Kurien was present to receive the degree, other stalwarts who were awarded the doctorates - Dr Karsanbhai Patel, Dr Rahul Bajaj, Dr B Ramalinga Raju (management stream) and Dr N R Narayana Murthy, S Ramadorai and Shiva Nadar (engineering stream) - were not present to receive the honour. The function was held at the University Auditorium on the Khandwa Road campus. The convocation ceremony was organised after 17 years.

Stating that the University was honoured by Dr Kurien’s presence, Jakhar said, “He is an institution in himself. A man struggling with Mother Earth and cattle, he has created history.”

Advising the students to read his book ‘I too had a dream’, Jakhar said, “Kurien not only dreamt, but also realised his dream. I wish there were scores of Kuriens. I would like to see a few Kuriens amongst you.”

Appreciating that more girls had received medals at the convocation, the Governor asked the boys not to underestimate girl power and change with the current trend. He also became nostalgic for a few moments, as he remembered his graduation ceremony at Lahore in 1945.

Terming youth the ‘hope of the nation’, he said, “There is a lot of responsibility on you, not just of your family but of the whole country. Put to use for the country whatever you have learnt.”

Having a clear vision is necessary and one must know where he is headed, one must know his destination. “And hence, we need more and more Kuriens to bring about a change in the country.”

Observing the lack of greenery on the University campus and connecting it with overall growth in agriculture, the former Lok Sabha Speaker, and a farmer to the core of his heart, also said, “I have asked Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to visit Israel and see if its example can be replicated in the State for bringing more land under irrigation.’’

BJP vice-president and Indore MP Sumitra Mahajan, who was also present on the occasion, observed that girls have scored top medals in all faculties. However, making a poignant point, she said, “Earning a medal amidst applause is necessary to give lifelong confidence to the girls so that these gold medallist girls do not succumb to death cue to dowry-mongers’ greed.”

State Minister for Higher and Technical Education Tukojirao Puar said, “The government is committed to bringing IT revolution to the State and high-level IT parks are coming up at Indore and Bhopal.” He also said that a ‘Science
City’ would be established at Dewas on the lines of science cities at Gujarat and Kolkata.

Earlier, Vice Chancellor Dr Rajkamal read out the achievements of the university wherein he dwelt on the history, new courses and also drew attention to the various facilities provided for the students by the university, given a four-star status by NAAC.

Medal tally: Girls outdo boys
SONAL SHUKLA (MBBS) with nine gold medals and three silver medals topped the tally among a total of 52 rank-holders of the 2004 and 2005 session who received the medals during the convocation apart from the honorary degrees. Among those receiving the medals on Sunday, there were 19 girls (and only six boys) for 2004, while a whopping number of 23 girls as against just four boys were in the 2005 list. However, from the list of 52, only 47 were present to receive the medals personally.

At least 5-6 six students from outside Indore, who were to receive medals, went back aggrieved without attending the convocation. The university reportedly dispatched the letter to them on January 22, which they received late. Moreover, there were no clear instructions about the procedure and hence they could not report to authorities earlier. More than double this number could not attend the convocation function, as allegedly the letters did not reach them on time.