BENGALURU: This is how the 53rd BU convocation went on Thursday. Neither the Governor, who is the varsity’s Chancellor, nor the Higher Education Minister, who is the Pro-Chancellor, graced the occasion. With no regular Vice-Chancellor in place since a year, the event was effectively a headless one.
As if this wasn’t enough to cause disappointment among the students receiving awards, only cash awards and certificates were issued to the toppers instead of gold medals . And, in a comic blunder, many of the certificates were wrongly attributed. For instance, the best outgoing sportsman was given a certificate for highest marks in B.Com!
It is for the first time in the 53-year history of the university that both Chancellor and Pro-Chancellor skipped the annual convocation. This, despite the university authorities blocking the dates almost two months ago and fixing the convocation date according to their schedules.
According to university officials, on Wednesday evening they received an official communication from Raj Bhavan saying that due to unavoidable reasons, governor Vajubhai Vala would not be present at the convocation.
But it was the reason given by Higher Education Minister Basavaraja Rayareddi that really irked the varsity authorities: "In the morning (on Thursday), a few hours before the convocation, we received a call from the minister saying he will not make it as he has to go to Koppal to look after arrangements for the visit of AICC president Rahul Gandhi," an official said.
Another version has it that Rayareddi skipped the event to dodge questions from the media about appointing a regular Vice Chancellor for BU.
However, Raj Bhavan officials said the Governor was not in town and refused to give further details, while the Higher Education Minister Rayareddi was unavailable for comment.
Rakesh Roshan, who got first rank in Electronic Science (MSc) said, "It was very disappointing that the governor and minister were absent."