New Delhi, Feb 28 (IANS) Addressing fresh graduates as architects of “Viksit Bharat@2047”, Vice-President and Delhi University (DU) Chancellor C.P. Radhakrishnan, on Saturday, conferred degrees upon more than 1.2 lakh graduates at the 102nd Convocation of the varsity, an official said.

“Highlighting DU’s growing academic stature, the Vice-President said that whether they become scientists, civil servants, entrepreneurs, artists, lawyers, teachers, or innovators, they will shape India of 2047,” the official said in a statement.

The realisation of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ (Self-Reliant India) and ‘Viksit Bharat’ (Developed India), Vice-President Radhakrishnan said, will depend on their integrity, competence, compassion, and innovative spirit.

Referring to India’s journey towards “Viksit Bharat @ 2047”, he added that at this crucial juncture, the role of the youth assumes even greater significance.

“Under the leadership and vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi India has articulated the aspiration of becoming an ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ and building a ‘Viksit Bharat’, a Developed India by 2047, when the nation will celebrate 100 years of Independence,” the Vice-President said.

He emphasised that ‘Aatmanirbharta’ is the capacity to innovate, manufacture, research, and create solutions rooted in Indian realities yet globally competitive.

“It calls upon universities to become engines of research, entrepreneurship, and indigenous knowledge systems,” the Vice-President said.

He added that ‘Viksit Bharat’ stands for inclusive growth, technological leadership, social harmony, environmental sustainability, and transparent and accountable institutions.

It aims to ensure that development reaches the last citizen and that opportunity becomes a promise to all, the Vice-President said.

The Vice-President expressed happiness that over 50 per cent of graduates and more than 70 per cent of the gold medallists are women.

He also noted that the number of women receiving degrees this year exceeds that of men.

Vice-President Radhakrishnan described this as a reflection of the phenomenal growth of women’s education in India.

The Vice-President urged the graduates to carry forward the spirit of inquiry and to remember that learning is a lifelong process.

He called upon them to remain grateful for the opportunities they have received and mindful of the responsibilities that accompany them, urging them to say “No to Drugs” and to use social media constructively rather than becoming enslaved by it.

Describing the Delhi University as one of India’s most distinguished institutions of higher learning, the Vice-President said that for more than a century it has nurtured minds that have gone on to lead India’s intellectual, political, scientific, and cultural life.

He told the graduating students that they now join a remarkable lineage of alumni, who have shaped not only India but the world.

He said that the DU Convocation is not merely a ceremonial event but marks both an ending and a beginning.

“It celebrates years of study, discipline, friendships, examinations, and self-discovery, while also signalling the graduates’ formal induction into a larger arena, the arena of responsibility,” he added.

–IANS

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