– Mita Mukherjee

West Bengal governor R. N. Ravi reminded Calcutta University on Monday of its 170-year-old legacy of producing true leaders whenever the nation “was in distress” and now that the country is “marching forward” to regain its past glory, he urged the university to align its goal in making” Bharat a self- reliant and fully developed nation” within 1947 when the nation will celebrate a century of its independence.

“This university has been the nursery that seeded and nursed true leaders. This university has a great legacy…. Calcutta University played a significant role in giving intellectual leadership in science, technology, literature traditionally for 170 years. It has to play a significant role now in keeping in tune with the fact that it had produced great revolutionary leaders when the nation was in distress..It must be conscious of that …,” he said.

“Today is an epochal time in our national history… At this time when our nation is marching forward … we have to take a resolution, not aspiration not dream. …But resolve that by the time the nation celebrates a century of its independence Bharat must be a self- reliant and fully developed nation… I would urge the university to align its goal with this resolution,” the governor also the chancellor of Calcutta University and all other state- aided universities in Bengal said addressing the institution’s annual convocation which took place a after six years on Monday.

The governor recounted that India had been the leader in various fields for over 2000 years but the nation witnessed a decline in the global rankings. He said the time has come for the country to regain its past glory.

“Bharat for at least for 2000 years of recorded history had been the economic power house of the world.We were the leaders in science, technology, medicine, astronomy, mathematic and industry… There was no America. No Europe…All through the centuries we were a thriving civilisation.. Bharat was the biggest economic power of the world accounting for 25 to 30 percent of the global GDP…. Unfortunately after independence we lost the way. In 1947 we dropped down to sixth position.. By 2014 we dropped further to 11th.. This was not acceptable… Bharat must reclaim.its glory..,” he said.

He said since the country’s young men and women can craft the journey of new Bharat, the graduating students attending the day’s convocation and receiving the degrees had a big role to play to help India regain its glory by 2047 when they will be at the helm of affairs by that time.

During his speech, the governor who took charge this month, mentioned the names of ” great leaders”, Bengal has produced at times when the nation was in distress like Rishi Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, great poet Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Rishi Aurobindo.

Calcutta University vice-chancellor Asutosh Ghosh in his address pointed out the difficulties the university was facing at present in implementing the policies mandated in the National Ecucation Policy (NEP).

“We must acknowledge that the university is facing challenges including the need to fill vacant positions, strengthen funding and forge effective coordination across the university campuses,” the vice-chancellor said.

IIT Kharagpur director Suman Chakraborty who deliverd the convocation address said, fundamental learning is important as it helps students develop the skills to ask questions. The spirit of asking questions is important even in the era of AI, he said

Governor R.N.Ravi awarded degree certificates to 1,007 students during the convocation.

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