The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee attended the seventh convocation of Vinoba Bhave Universitytoday (January 9, 2016) at Hazaribagh, Jharkhand.

Speaking on the occasion, the President said Vinoba Bhave Universitynow had24 post-graduate departments, 22 constituent colleges and 91 affiliated colleges offer teaching and research programmes in humanities, science, commerce, management, computer application, engineering, law, education and medicine. It has within its jurisdiction the ayurveda and homoeopathy colleges of the entire state of Jharkhand. Having completed two and half decades, Vinoba Bhave University is now quickly proceeding towards realizing its vision of becoming a modern twenty-first century institution and centre of excellence.

The President said universities cannot work in the isolation. They should contribute to betterment of society. Government has launched several important initiatives like Swachh Bharat Mission, Smart City Mission, Digital India, Make in India, Skilling India, and Start-up India. These initiatives have potential to change the destiny of India.

The President said India was well known for education and research in the past. There was a time when India played a leading role in the world as a centre of higher education. Renowned seats of learning likeTakshashila, Nalanda, Vikramashila, Valabhi, Somapura and Odantapuri enabled India lead the world for almost 1800 years.Cross fertilization of knowledge from across world took place here for centuries.

The President said in last three and half years he has visited more than 100 institutions and emphasized the need to improve international rankings of Indian institutions of higher education. There was no lack of merit on the part of our higher learning institutions. They however need to promote themselves better. Noble Laureates like Hargobind Khurana and V Ramakrishnanhave completed their studies in Indian universities. He said thanks to the efforts of the institutions concerned and his constant prodding, two Indian institutions have broken into the top 200 for the first time. He was confident many more would join these institutions soon.

The President complimented Shri Yashwant Sinha, former Union Minister for Finance and External Affairs on the occasion, who was conferred D.Litt. (Honoris Causa) degree.

The release issued 1820 hrs.