Assam Down Town University (AdtU) on Wednesday successfully hosted the 8th Convocation Ceremony despite the prevailing situation not being favourable for conducting an event on a grand scale as usually witnessed.

The varsity, which has over 64 programs and a faculty strength of 250, awarded degrees to 724 are Graduates, 213 Post Graduates, and 7 PhD achievers.

"Education is the most powerful tool of empowerment and road to achieve excellence in our chosen path in the service of the Nation. Here in Assam Down Town University we constantly strive to develop a healthy academic environment for the students which help them not only to excel in the field of education but also prepare them to deal with the complexity of our social fabric. The pandemic situation has brought the world to a standstill for a long period of time. Despite the lockdowns and prolonged halt to physical classes,teaching learning has been a continuous progression in AdtU.The transition of Assam Down Town University has been very smooth and successful as it always believed in the integration of information technology in education," the university said in a statement.

AdtU also conferred honorary Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.) to Sri Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, former Chief Minister of Assam and notable Social Activist and to Sri Padma Hazarika, an eminent Social activist and Entrepreneur of Assam.

"The pandemic situation has brought the world to a standstill for a long period of time. Despite the lockdowns and prolonged halt to physical classes,teaching-learning has been a continuous progression in AdtU. The transition of Assam Down Town University has been very smooth and successful as it always believed in the integration of information technology in education," the university said.

The event commenced with the academic procession of the esteemed dignitaries of the university with the University anthem playing in the background. The programme started with the felicitation of the chief guest of the ceremony Governor Jagdish Mukhi by the Registrar Ashim Barman. After the Governor declared the Convocation open, a welcome address by the Chancellor Dr. N. N. Dutta commenced. Thereafter, the Vice Chancellor (Dr.) N.C. Talukdar also presented his address.

Dean of Studies, Prof. Bandana Dutta, presented the PhD Degrees to the research scholars.

The Deans of the various Faculty of Study presented the names of the candidates under their respective undergraduate and postgraduate programmes who have qualified for the conferment of Bachelors and Masters Degrees. His Excellency, the Governor awarded the students their respective degrees. The students who had qualified for the award of the Doctorate of Philosophy, Masters’ Degree and Bachelors’ degree in different Faculties of Studies and disciplines but were unable to attend the Convocation were presented by the Controller of Examination, Dr. Joydeep Goswami and their degrees were awarded in absentia by the Governor.

Ms. Jyotismita Sarma (BSc. Microbiology)and Ms. Jutima Baruah (Msc. Microbiology) bagged the Gold Medal for the Best Graduate and the Best Post Graduate of the session 2021 respectively. A befitting award of appreciation for the Best PlacementAchiever of the year was presented to Ms. Debapriya Paul (MBA).

Subsequently, the Oath of Dedication was administered to the Degree recipients by Ms Jutima Baruah and the Vice-Chancellor invited each of the three Awardees to speak a few words. Thereafter the Recipients of the honorary degrees, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta and Padma Hazarika were invited to deliver their speeches. After the awards, the Chancellor invited the Chief Guest and the Visitor of the university to deliver his address followed by the tradition of signing the Convocation Book. The Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor also put their Signatures on the Book. After the signatures,the Governor was requested to declare the Convocation closed and the event ended with the National Anthem.