21st Graduation Day, S.A. Engineering College, Chennai

I am very glad to attend the 24th Graduation Day of KSR Rangasamy College of Technology. First and foremost, I extend my heartfelt congratulations to each and every one of you. This day signifies not only the culmination of years of hard work, dedication, and perseverance but also the beginning of a new chapter in your lives filled with endless possibilities. My dear students, the next phase of your life is filled with lots of responsibilities, ambitions and growth. The education, learning and experience you have gained here will help and advantage to succeed ahead in future.

To be a graduate is not the end day of your academic journey but it is a stepping stone for you to lead your career path. You have to be open to all the challenges and achievements at the same time. Keep your mind windows open to explore, engage and experience something new and innovative. We are living in the Amrit Kaal and this is the time to take a quantum leap in your career. Engage yourself in critical thinking, upskilling and reskilling with new technologies and ideas and mark a space for yourself in the world of rapid evolution.

In today's rapidly changing and increasingly interconnected world, the skills and knowledge you have acquired during your time here will serve as invaluable assets. But beyond academic achievements, it is your character, integrity, and values that will truly define your success in life.

Though you have graduated and will seek a good opportunity to earn, but the urge of learning must continue in every phase of your life. You should never feel that you have gained enough knowledge or qualification. In today’s time where everything is rapidly being replaced by advanced technology, you must prepare yourself to accept, adapt and embrace that change.

With the introduction of disruptive innovations like AI tools such as ChatGPT, which can actually replace humans from many jobs, it becomes important for future generations to be upgraded and equipped with the emerging and advanced technologies. Continuous learning is critical, therefore it is important that education should not only provide students with the skills they need to succeed in life, but also inspire them to strive for greatness and to make a positive difference in the world.

The 21st generation youths have the full potential to make India a global superpower. Though India is leading at forefront in many sectors, but the growth we have achieved in digital transformation is highly appreciable. India’s digital transformation is powered by its unshakeable belief in innovation and its commitment to speedy implementation. India's Digital Public Infrastructure offers scalable, secure and inclusive solutions for global challenges. Aadhar card, CoWIN, UPI are just some of the successful examples of India’s digital growth. All this became possible because of the innovative minds and entrepreneurial capabilities of our young generation.

To succeed in the transformative world, we have to be highly capable of being job givers rather than job seekers. And for that innovation is the key. I strongly believe that investing in research and innovation is investing in a country’s future. Just like Innovation, Research is also a very important aspect to create new solutions to maintain and improve our way of life. R&D and innovation are interlinked to each other and their parallel collaboration helps in overall development. Innovation fuels economic growth, and R&D fuels innovation, allowing researchers to develop new knowledge, techniques, and technologies.

As you have just passed the graduation, I urge you to invest your precious time in some research also. Do not rush to get a job, try to work on developing and researching something new and different, which can lead to a positive impact in the social world.

You will be amazed to know that the ability to conduct research and develop new ideas is highly valued in the workforce. By engaging in R&D activities during education, students develop skills that are essential for success in the modern workplace, such as problem-solving, collaboration, and adaptability. Participating in research and development projects can ignite a passion for learning in students. It can encourage you to explore topics of interest in greater depth, pursue further education, and continue to engage in lifelong learning beyond the classroom.

In order to promote the concept of Research and Development among students and faculty members, AICTE has been taking tremendous measures through various programmes and schemes. Recently we launched AICTE AURA (Augmenting Utilization of Research Assets 2024 Scheme) to promote the utilization of I-STEM (India Science Technology Engineering facilities Map) by providing the financial aid to teachers and students in AICTE approved colleges for utilizing I-STEM facilities and boosting research. The aim of AURA scheme is to augment existing research by utilization of public funded hardware and software R&D facilities mapped by I-STEM, and thereby developing a culture of research in technical education Institutions. Under the scheme, an amount of up to Rs. 2 lakh will be given to the researcher for the use of equipment and facilities registered on the I-STEM portal. And the most important thing about this scheme is that it has no age bar to avail the benefit of the scheme. However, an eligible faculty member or a researcher is eligible to use the scheme only twice in his entire career.

I urge faculties and PG students of this Institute to avail maximum benefit of this scheme and do good research on your respective topics.

Apart from this scheme, AICTE is instrumental in promoting innovation and startup culture in our approved Institutions. In a year, we organise more than 5-6 hackathons like Smart India Hackathon, Singapore India Hackathon, Pentathon, Kavach etc. These hackathons aim to provide students a platform to solve the pressing problems of the government, ministries, departments, industries and other organizations. Smart India Hackathon has been acclaimed as the world’s biggest open innovation model and it inculcates the culture of product innovation and problem-solving among students.

Additionally, AICTE organizes engaging activities to encourage students to develop innovative ideas. The AICTE Inventors Challenge focuses on the semiconductor domain, while the AMRUT Challenge invites creative millet recipe ideas. The National Inter-College Crossword Expedition is a mind game and crossword puzzle competition, and the Bicycle Design Challenge promotes eco-friendly bicycle designs. These unique challenges are designed to maximize student participation, providing exposure to innovative thinking and creative learning, rather than just rote memorization.

AICTE also focuses on skill based learning. We need both knowledge creation and also impart high end future skills at our universities. Today, skilling has become an integral part of education and curriculum. We need to understand the difference between skill-based and knowledge-based education. The latter involves understanding concepts whereas the former aims to channelize education into a practical form to find solutions. India is looking for talented people who can innovate, are open to learning and re-learning, can apply their knowledge practically and will also upskill themselves. In order to establish industry-academia collaborations to address the skills gap and foster a future-ready workforce, we have signed MoUs with big giants like Amazon, Meta, Cisco, Salesforce, Arm India, Bajaj Finserv, Apna.co etc to ensure that the private sector contributes by actively participating in curriculum development, offering apprenticeships and internships, and providing funding for skilling initiatives.

Also, AICTE's Internship and Placement portal cater to a wide range of job and internship opportunities for young graduates. AICTE internship portal has over 4 crore registered students with over 75,000 companies offering internships. In the placement portal more than 2,000 companies are offering jobs particularly for students located in rural and tribal areas.

We have also developed courses in emerging areas like semiconductors, advanced telecommunications like 5G and beyond; logistics etc. The initiative aims to equip students and faculty with the necessary digital skills to adapt to the rapidly changing demands of the 21st-century economy. The initiative encompasses a range of online courses in programming, data analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. These courses are meticulously designed to provide students with industry-relevant skills, thereby improving their employability and competitiveness in the job market.

We are even instrumental in promoting the regional languages. AICTE E-Kumbh portal is offering technical books Hindi and other regional languages. At e-Kumbh you can access the technical course books in regional languages for free. We did so because when you think in your mother tongue, your ideas will be much better and sharper, fostering greater innovation.

Apart from this very recently we launched the AICTE VAANI scheme to promote Indian languages among faculty members and students for an effective teaching learning process. VAANI stands for Vibrant Advocacy for Advancement and Nurturing of Indian Languages. Under the scheme we will be providing financial assistance to AICTE approved Institutions for conducting conferences/seminars/workshops in emerging fields of technical education in 12 regional languages - Gujarati, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Punjabi, Bengali, Kannada, Assamese, Malayalam, Odia, Urdu & Hindi. In total, an amount of Rs 2 crore will be reimbursed by AICTE to Institutions for conducting 100 conferences annually. The purpose we launched this scheme is to help in creating a knowledge base in the local language, which will further encourage creation of a treasure of latest technical knowledge incorporating the newest developments in regional languages. This scheme will also promote promotion of the research papers in the regional languages and further enhance the collaboration between Institutions and Industry. Moreover, it will also remove the dilemma regarding giving preference to only the English language rather than vernacular languages. The importance of regional languages or mother tongues in education will ensure cultural diversity of the nation.

At AICTE, our vision is to provide transformative education to students, to create leaders and innovators, and generate new knowledge for a sustainable society. AICTE has a tremendous role to play as a partner of a new knowledge economy to inspire, create and move our society forward.

Friends, "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." Therefore, keep your learning spirit alive always. At the same time, I encourage you to always remain grounded in humility and empathy, to never lose sight of the importance of compassion and kindness.

Once again, congratulations to the graduates. May you continue to shine brightly wherever life may lead you.

Thank You!

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