26 Jan holds a special place in the heart of every Indian as it was on 26 Jan 1950 that our constitution officially came into force and the journey of India as a republic, democratic and sovereign nation began. The day is, therefore, celebrated with great pomp and patriotic fervor every year.
At Graphic Era, the 74th Republic Day was commemorated with a grand ceremony wherein a series of events were conducted with immense pride and gaiety in the presence of the students, faculty, staff and other eminent dignitaries of Graphic Era Deemed to be University and Graphic Era Hill University.
The program commenced with the unfurling of the National Flag by Prof. (Dr) Kamal Ghanshala, President, Graphic Era Group of Institutions. This was followed by the traditional singing of the national anthem and a spectacular display of parade by NCC (National Cadet Corps) cadets and NSS (National Service Scheme) students.
The celebrations were carried forward with the addresses of Prof Narpinder Singh, Vice Chancellor, Graphic Era Deemed to be University, Prof. (Dr) R.C Joshi, Chancellor, Graphic Era Deemed to be University, and Prof. (Dr) Kamal Ghanshala, President, Graphic Era Group of Institutions.
In his address, Prof Narpinder Singh paid homage to the heroes who sacrificed their lives for freedom of India and reiterated the sacred values enshrined in the constitution. He shed light on the extraordinary contribution and legacy of Graphic Era in the field of education and human resource development and assured that the university will continue marching on this noble path in future. Hon’ble VC expressed his confidence that the launch of Graphic Era Hospital or Graphic Era Institute of Medical Sciences will establish its position as a center of excellence for biomedical research, discovery and clinical treatment. He also shared a few strategic areas on which the university plans to boost its efforts, research collaboration with internationally recognized experts, entrepreneurship programs for students, creation of new technologies to meet the changing needs of industry and nation, industry-academia partnership, to name a few.
After VC Sir’s speech, Prof. (Dr) R.C Joshi took the stage and delivered a moving speech. He highlighted the key features of Indian constitution and its connection to Dehradun. He encouraged the audience to celebrate the golden heritage of their country with pride and to thank the soldiers keeping their countrymen safe and concluded his speech by requesting everyone to take the pledge to always keep the tricolor high and rising.
The ceremony culminated with the rousing speech of Prof. (Dr) Kamal Ghanshala who began by expressing his pride in the glorious journey and progress of India since its independence. Comparing the growth of India with other developed nations, sir noted that that India emerged as a leader in vaccine manufacturing during the pandemic. “India not only fulfilled the vaccine requirement of its large population but also developed and supplied vaccines to other nations.” He then briefly spoke about the initiatives undertaken by India under ‘Atam Nirbhar Bharat’ the noble vision of Shri Narendra Modi, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India and identified a few areas which require more improvement, “A competitive manufacturing sector driven by research and discovery has the potential to boost India’s economic growth and employment creation.” Saying that, “there still remains a need for robust and innovative technology solutions in agriculture sector,” Hon’ble President disclosed Graphic Era’s plan to establish 100-acre Agriculture campus with top-notch scientists as faculty to cater to the growing technological and research needs in the agriculture sector in Mohnd, UP.
Moving forward, he reflected on the achievements of Graphic Era, “We are the only University in Uttarakhand to be ranked among the top 100 universities of India for three consecutive years. We have also fared exceptionally well in Times Higher Education World Ranking 2023.” Sir remarked that Graphic Era has also launched its ultramodern hospital in the service of the nation, “The Graphic Era hospital has been developed keeping the intense pressure that was built on the medical infrastructure during the pandemic in mind. An oxygen generation plant has been installed in the hospital and 300 beds with oxygen facility have been commissioned (800 are in the pipeline).”
It is worth mentioning that Graphic Era has been providing an enabling environment and opportunities to young minds since its inception. Hon’ble President also recalled how Graphic Era has always set benchmarks for other institutes to follow, be it being the first to provide free education to children of martyrs, to being the first to offer scholarships to wards of defense personnel, girl students, domiciles of Uttarakhand. The university has also never missed an opportunity to ease the pain of disaster victims. A few weeks back only, the university announced free education to 100 youths of tragedy struck Joshimath. The university’s efforts in this direction are inspired by the thought that individual development leads to the collective development of the nation. After all, it is in the hands of the students that the future of our country lies.
Finally, with the commitment to continue contributing to the grand task of nation building, President, Graphic Era Group of Institution ended his speech and brought the Republic Day celebrations to a close.
