GBPUAT awards honorary doctorate degree to NSA Ajit Doval at 34th Convocation
By OUR STAFF REPORTER
PANTNAGAR, 16 Feb: At the 34th convocation ceremony held at Pantnagar, the country’s first agricultural university and the parent institution that led the Green Revolution, 2503 students were awarded degrees and initiation by the Governor and Chancellor Lt-General (Retd) Gurmit Singh, who was present as the chief guest in the convocation ceremony. One special development at the convocation ceremony was that National Security Advisor Ajit Doval who hails from Uttarakhand and is also famous as Indian James Bond was conferred an honorary doctorate degree by the University.
In his address on this occasion, Singh said that PhD degree was of a different level and from today onwards 275 degree holders will be called doctors. He noted that a different enthusiasm was seen in the students who came to receive the degree and medal which is very important. He added that the daughters of Uttarakhand have performed very well, even two sisters of a family have won medals. He heartily congratulated the parents and teachers of the students and urged the students not to forget their parents, teachers and companions. The governor called upon the students to dream and take a resolution to work towards bringing another green revolution through GBPUAT in the fields of seeds technology, agriculture and horticulture.
He said that if everyone concerned contribute with full responsibility, nothing can stop the country from being a developed nation and a world leader. He also expressed great happiness over Kirti Chakra awardee National Security Advisor Ajit Doval being conferred with the honorary degree of Doctor of Science.
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval who was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Science noted that this university is a pillar of pride for India. He said that it was a matter of good fortune for him and others present to have got the opportunity to come here. He said that this university has served the country at a time when there was a famine in the country and food grains had to be imported from other countries. Today the country was not only capable of producing food grains but was also exporting them to other countries. Giving a comparative description of India-China agricultural land and food grain production at the time of independence and at present, Doval said that despite having less land, China is producing 682 metric tonnes of food grains while India is producing 315 metric tonnes. The value of food grain production in China is 10,367 billion USD while that of India is merely 407 billion USD. He said that China has more productivity than India despite having less cultivable land than India. He urged the researchers in the university to accept the challenge of increasing the productivity and work harder towards this goal. Appreciating the efforts of scientists and researchers, he said that we need to make more efforts to increase the production of food grains. Food security is an important dimension for national security. He called upon the students and young scientists to contribute in increasing the production in the next ten years. Special guest Agriculture Minister, Uttarakhand Ganesh Joshi while congratulating students said that the future of Uttarakhand is looking bright as the number of girl students is increasing in comparison to male students. It is number one among 74 agricultural universities of the country. The area under agriculture is decreasing in the country but the production is increasing. He said that there is a need to do research on the endangered mountain food species. Today we are at number two in the world in the field of food grains. Despite having a population of 140 crores, we are providing food grains to 20 to 25 countries. Millets are now being used in our food.
Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) and Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research Dr Himanshu Pathak said that the convocation holds a special place in one’s life and is memorable. He was delighted that the governor was asking each and every student about his/her parents, which in itself is a great message. Feeling proud to have gender equality in this university seeing more number of girl students among degree holders.
Presenting the annual report, Vice-Chancellor Dr Manmohan Singh Chauhan said that the university is making its important contribution in agriculture, animal husbandry, milk and fish production by moving forward in the form of Green Revolution. Last year the University was ranked 361st in the World QS Ranking and was awarded the ‘Outlook Agritech Summit & Swaraj Award 2022’ by Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar for its contribution in agricultural education and research. The museum, General Vipin Rawat Mountain Research School was inaugurated by the Governor in the University. The Agriculture Minister also unveiled the statue of Swami Vivekananda at the Wellness and Meditation Centre in the Agriculture College.
Registrar Dr AK Shukla conducted the function and proposed a vote on thanks at the end. On this occasion, DGP Ashok Kumar, Divisional Commissioner Deepak Rawat, District Magistrate Yugal Kishore Pant, ASP Manjunath TC, Chief Development Officer Vishal Mishra, along with members of the Management Council and Academic Council of the University, as well as faculty members, officers, employees and students of the University were present. Progressive farmers and high officials of state government and district administration were also present.
