Governor Anusuiya Uikey and Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Monday gave away gold and silver medals to the students at the first convocation ceremony of Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee International Institute of Information Technology, Nava Raipur.

Higher Education and Technical Education Minister Umesh Patel, Ex-Director IIT Delhi and Ex-Chairman NBA Professor Surendra Prasad, special guest of the programme, Chairman IIT Board and Co-Founder HCL  Ajay Choudhary also attended the ceremony among others wherein  69 students received B.Tech. degree.

Speaking at the function, Baghel called upon the        students to contribute to the development of Chhattisgarh with their technical        knowledge.

He said that use of advanced technology in processing of agricultural and forest produce can generate maximum employment opportunities, and farming can be made more profitable for farmers. Research should be done in this context.

Baghel said that in near future, IIIT will become one of the major institutes to contribute tin progress of the country, just like BSP and NTPC.

He said that in last 200 years, there has been progress in every stream of science, but this progress has come with its own set of challenges. He said that with all kinds of development, air and water pollution have also emerged as huge problem. He appealed to students to do research in this sector. Chhattisgarh has immense potential for research, said Chief Minister. Chhattisgarh is rich in forest

After receiving degree at the convocation ceremony, it is possible that some students would go abroad and some would stay in the country.

“Wherever we work, wherever we go, we should always strive for glorifying the name of our country,” she added.

Governor said that 41 students of IIIT have got job opportunities with attractive packages. This includes Viman Anand Baghel of Kondagaon who has got the package of Rs 29 lakh, which is commendable.

Uikey encouraged the youngsters for entrepreneurship and motivated them to become job providers. She also encouraged the students to utilize their technical knowledge for further research in various fields.

Special guest of the occasion, Umesh Patel said that research should be encouraged in engineering and technical institutions of Chhattisgarh.

Professor Surendra Prasad said that technical institutes should focus on both professional skills and wisdom.

Ajay Choudhary also addressed the programme. IIIT Vice-Chancellor and Director Dr Pradeep Kumar Sinha presented progress report of the institution.