Delhi CM urges AI innovation as over 11,000 students receive degrees at VIT convocation

Over 11,000 students received degrees at VIT University’s 41st convocation in Vellore on Saturday, with 781 awarded Ph.Ds. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta urged graduates to help India become a creator of artificial intelligence.

Hyderabad: As many as 11,276 students — 7,359 at the undergraduate level and 3,917 at the postgraduate level – received their degree certificates during the 41st convocation of VIT University, Vellore, held on Saturday.

Among the total, 6,046 completed B.Tech, 1,732 completed M.Tech, 1,313 completed other undergraduate courses, and 2,185 completed M.Sc. and other postgraduate programmes. Additionally, 781 students received Ph.D. degrees and three received integrated Ph.D. degrees. Certificates of academic distinction went to 248 top-ranking students, while 84 received gold medals.

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Participating in the convocation, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said India must transform itself into a creator of artificial intelligence rather than remain merely a consumer of it.

Gupta said many of society’s pressing problems could be solved when the government and graduates work in tandem. She urged the graduating students to take up similar roles once they entered the workforce, contributing to solutions for their cities and to innovation for the nation.

In his address, VIT Chancellor G. Viswanathan said India’s Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education stands at around 30 percent, which the union government’s new education policy aims to raise to 50 percent. India must compete with other Asian nations on this front, he said, citing enrolment ratios of 90 percent in South Korea, 60 percent in Japan, over 60 percent in China, 40 percent in Malaysia and 45 percent in Thailand.

Gupta inaugurated a Centre for Advanced Research centre for Bacteriophage and Infectious Diseases at VIT.