Students should be socially conscious and get ready for the challenging task of nation-building, Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu told the graduands on Wednesday.
At the graduation ceremony of the Presidency College, he presented gold medals to 35 meritorious undergraduate and postgraduate students.
“You must take up the daunting and extremely challenging work of nation- building,” he told them. The younger generation should also learn to live in harmony with nature, he said adding that solutions such as harnessing solar power, building and maintaining rainwater harvesting structures were the need of the hour.
Mr. Naidu urged the students to be proficient in their native tongue and also learn other languages too as it would help them progress in their career. The college, 90% of whose students were from socio-economically weaker families, practised inclusivity by admitting 300 students with disabilities, he said. Earlier, Principal R. Ravanan said 700 UG students, 310 PG students and 142 M.Phil students had received their degrees.
Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar, Higher Education Minister K.P. Anbalagan and secretary Mangat Ram Sharma participated in the event.
Platinum jubilee
Mr. Naidu participated in the platinum jubilee celebrations of Ethiraj College for Women on Thursday. Speaking at the event, he said women of the country were central to the nation’s development and the government of India was focusing on the education of girls.
“Women in India have excelled in diverse fields and have started recognising their true potential. There is no arena which remains unconquered by them,” he said. “We have to usher in a new India where gender equality becomes the norm, where we successfully unleash the full potential of half a billion strong women,” Mr. Naidu added.
