There was the dominance of women in winning medals and top ranks in the range of subjects taught in the nine schools and 20 departments. Girl graduands numbered 367 against 252 boys. More than 95 per cent passed!
“The Central University of Tamil Nadu, (CUTN), can be a model institution that would spearhead development of the southern region,” said Dr Renu Swarup, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Government of India.
Delivering the convocation address, she pointed to India poised to be one of the top three nations in science and technology within the next decade: “India has also become one of the preferred destinations for science and technology collaborations. We are no more just receivers of technology, but co-developers.”
CUTN was set up at Tiruvarur, at the heart of the great Chola empire in 2009, to provide higher education accessible to aspirants from weaker sections of the society. With the recent copious rains, river Cauvery even at its tail-end has sumptuous water. The lush green fields and groves in the temple-rich Tiruvarur district were a feast to the eyes.
A leading new-gen Central university
CUTN, with its 517-acre campus, has evolved as a leading new-gen Central University. CUTN offers diversified integrated postgraduate and postgraduate doctoral programmes, diploma and certificate courses and accommodates a community college and a Kendriya Vidyalaya to serve the vast rural community around. It has around 1700 students served by around 100 – strong, well-qualified faculty.
CUTN has state-of-the-art infrastructure including smart classrooms, laboratories with sophisticated scientific equipment, a well-stocked library connected through internet and WiFi.
A microcosm of India!
Vice Chancellor, Dr A P Dash, in his welcome address at the convocation referred to the university attracting rich talent from across the country: “this nascent university had as many as 82,570 applicants this year for 474 seats. In terms of gender ratio, around 60 per cent are female students. As many as 55 per cent of students are from other states.”
Dr Dash said that the university, within a short time of its inception, had a good record of publishing papers in reputed and high impact journals like Nature, Lancet… CUTN has adopted two villages and spends liberally on local community development activities.
Seek knowledge from across the world…
Chancellor, Padma Bhushan Prof G Padmanaban, a past Director of the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, is an internationally renowned scientist in biochemistry and is widely known for his work on malaria among other areas. A native of Tiruvarur district, he pointed to the glorious tradition of Tiruvarur as the home of the trinity of Carnatic music. The Chancellor pointed to the rich contribution of one of these, Muthuswami Dikshitar, travelling across the country: “he lived for a few years in Benares. He gained proficiency in Hindustani music and even in western music, composed several songs in Hindustani ragas.” He extorted students to imbibe in them a thirst for seeking knowledge from places near and far.
CUTN works in close cooperation with the Madras School of Economics and offers one undergraduate programme and eight postgraduate programmes and with Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International School of Textiles and Management, Coimbatore. CUTN has MoUs with the Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology, Thanjavur and the Central Institute of Classical Tamil, Chennai.
