Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira will hold the annual convocation on its Belur campus on December 12 following all health and safety protocols.

Close to 200 students (undergraduate, postgraduate, MPhil and PhD) will be awarded their degree certificates during the one and half hour long ceremony.

Swami Ekachittananda, the principal of the college, said they had decided to hold the ceremony on the campus as Unlock VI guidelines of the Centre has allowed social, academic and other congregations in closed spaces using up to 50 per cent of the hall capacity and with up to 200 people.

“In compliance with the safety protocols, the 200 odd degree recipients will be split in two groups. One group will attend the convocation in Vivekananda Sabhagriha, which can accommodate over 800 people. Still, we will use AshaJyoti Conference Hall for the other group so that maximum physical distance can be maintained,” Swami Ekachittananda told The Telegraph.

Jadavpur University, from where 4,000 odd students have graduated this year, will not hold its convocation to avoid a gathering while the Covid pandemic is still raging. Degree recipients can download their degree certificates from digital platforms.

A JU official said the recipients could collect hard copies of their certificates from the departments in a staggered way.

RK Mission Vidyamandira, which has featured among the top 11 institutions in the National Institutional Ranking Framework over the past three years, will not allow the degree recipients to be accompanied by family members. “This year we will only allow the degree recipients on the campus as a precaution against Covid,” the principal said.

A teacher of the college said that unlike previous years, the recipients this year will not be allowed to put up at hostels on the campus. “No one will be allowed to put up at hostels, which are empty because the students are all home. They are attending classes on digital platforms because of the pandemic,” he said.

The college has enlisted the names of those who will attend the event on Google forms.

The recipients have to wear masks throughout their stay on the campus and their body temperature will be checked by thermal guns.

Pravin Srivastava, a former chief statistician of India, will deliver the convocation address virtually.

Calcutta University’s pro vice chancellor for academic affairs, Ashis Chatterjee, will award the degree certificates. Swami Divyananda, the secretary of the college, will be present on the occasion.

The convocation at RK Mission Vidyamandira is held on the first or second Saturday. December 12 is the second Saturday.