Girls in IITs very low… this can’t go on : Ramnath Kovind at IIT Kharagpur’s 64th convocation

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Kovind appealed to the IIT community to take the lead on the issue. “This cannot go on. We need to do something about these numbers. The participation of women in higher education, science and technology and in the workforce of our country has to rise to fair and acceptable levels within the coming decade,” he said.

IIT-Kharagpur increased its intake of female students from 8 per cent to 15 per cent in this academic year. Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee were present at the convocation as guests of honour.

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Praising Mamata, Kovind said, “Without meeting this challenge and providing the necessary opportunities for our girl children and young women, the development of Indian society can never be complete. IIT-Kharagpur must act because it is located in a state that has produced illustrious women achievers who have contributed a great deal to nation-building and our society. We are fortunate that one of them, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, is with us today. It is always a pleasure to meet her.”

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On the occasion, the President laid the foundation stone for the Savitribai Phule Girls’ Hostel and the APJ Abdul Kalam International Visitors’ Guest House at the institute. He also gave away seven gold medals to IIT KGP students.
IIT-Kgp Director Partha Pratim Chakrabarti said, “This is the first time after former West Bengal chief minister Bidhan Chandra Roy’s tenure that the President of India, the Governor of Bengal and the Chief Minister of Bengal have been seen on the same dais.”

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This year, 2,616 students were awarded degrees. This includes 295 doctoral and joint PhD, 30 MS, 624 MTech, 39 MCP, 112 MBA, 27 EMBA, 10 MMST, 18 MHRM, 8 LLM, 29 LLB, 52 PGDBA, 529 dual, 475 BTech, 36 BArch, 178 five-year integrated MSc and 154 two-year MSc degrees.