NEW DELHI: The Delhi University will commence a year-long centenary celebration on Sunday with the launch of a commemorative stamp, a coin, and a website to mark the completion of 100 years of the varsity, said officials.
The inaugural ceremony on Sunday will be held in the multipurpose hall, University of Delhi Sports Complex.
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, who is the chancellor of the university, will be the chief guest at the event and Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Education, will be the guest of honour.
To mark the occasion, DU registrar Vikas Gupta said Vice President Naidu will launch a commemorative coin of a hundred-rupee denomination, a commemorative centenary stamp, and a commemorative Centenary Volume (booklet) - a pictorial representation of the historical journey of the university.
"VP Naidu will also launch Undergraduate Curricular Framework (UGCF) 2022 (Hindi version), Undergraduate Curricular Framework (UGCF) 2022 (Sanskrit version), University of Delhi: A Glimpse - a reservoir of the historical landmarks achieved by the University and a brief account of recent initiatives and centenary plans," he said.
He said Naidu will also launch the centenary website that will serve as a digital journey down the memory lane.
A 100-seconds-long documentary on the life of the university will also be shown during the ceremony.
The varsity has planned events till next May 1 to celebrate the 100th year of its birth.
It has also allocated Rs 10 crore for these celebrations and has plans to bring out a coffee table book to mark the occasion.
Gupta said the university, which had started with just three colleges, 750 students, 8 departments and two faculties, has flourished to 90 colleges, with over 6 lakh students, 86 departments, 16 Faculties, 25 Centres, and four institutes.
"Over the year we have grown a lot. We have travelled a lot and we are expected a large number of changes," he told PTI.
As part of the celebration, the university will also be starting several new courses including B Tech, management and economic courses at under and post graduate level.
"In the centenary year, we are planning to introduce faculty of engineering. At present, we don't have any engineering faculty. This is our dream now that we wish to establish a faculty dedicated to engineering," Gupta said.
He said that the portal for the registration of the "centenary chance" exam for drop-out students will also open from May 1.
The university is yet to announce the date for the closing of registration.
"The dates for the closing of registration have not been decided yet. We need to first see the response and then only we will decide," he said.
In March, DU Vice Chancellor Yogesh Singh had announced that the DU students who dropped out would be given a "centenary chance" to complete their studies and get their degrees.