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Bhubaneswar, Sept 12: Union human resource development minister Smriti Zubin Irani Saturday asked the students and faculty members of IIT Bhubaneswar to adopt five villages for development work and urged qualified engineers to take up entrepreneurship.
Speaking at the fourth convocation of IIT Bhubaneswar held at its permanent campus at Arugul for the first time, Irani said, “Each student needs to contribute something significant for the growth and development of the country. Students who have great ideas that can become great business opportunities need to start up now.” In her speech that lasted for barely seven minutes, she spoke of the ‘Start up India, Stand Up India’ scheme and various schemes started by the central government for development of the people and the nation.
Under the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan, IIT Bhubaneswar has adopted only two villages, but Irani requested the students and faculty members to adopt five villages. “It is an initiative where students and faculty can engage with citizens in areas around the institution so that those who wonder how an IIT can benefit villages around it can see the development work,” she said.
Appealing to students to engage themselves more productively, Irani said students should always do things which their hearts want them to do. Appreciating the achievement of IIT Bhubaneswar student Sushant Sachan, who received the President’s gold medal, she said he should strive not only to carve out a good life for himself but also to lead the country.
Sushil Kumar Roongta, chairman of the institute’s board of governors, urged the students to keep alive their curiosities and natural instinct for innovation and creation.
IIT Bhubaneswar director Prof Ratnam V Raja Kumar said the institute, which started with just 94 students in three undergraduate programmes, now has 1,038 students in various departments. “The institute has made considerable progress in research and development. The faculty members have published more than 688 research papers in reputed national and international journals. In the campus, more than 5,000 saplings have been planted to develop a green cover,” he said.
Around 215 students received their degrees at the convocation. They included 109 BTech, 44 MTech, 50 MSc and 12 PhD students. Sushant Sachan of the mechanical engineering branch received the President of India gold medal for topping all BTech branches, whereas Pratik Nayak of civil engineering won the directors’ gold medal for topping all MTech specialisations. In MSc, Anudeep Nain of mathematics received the Director’s gold medal for topping in all Msc branches.
