President to address 23rd convocation of Pondicherry Central Varsity

President Pranab Mukherjee will address the 23rd annual convocation of Pondicherry Central University at nearby Kalapet on September 25 and present degree certificates symbolically to some candidates.

University Vice Chancellor Prof.Chandra Krishnamoorthy told reporters here that more than 18,000 candidates from various disciplines would be conferred degrees at the convocation.

She said this would be Mukherjee's first visit to Puducherry after assuming office. Mukherjee will be the third President to address the convocation at the university.

On earlier occasions the then President R Venkataraman and Abdul Kalam had presented the address and conferred degrees on the candidates.

The President is the Visitor of the University as per the provisions of the Pondicherry Central University Act through which the University was set up in 1985.

The University has jurisdiction over the whole of the Union Territory of Puducherry and Port Blair.

The UGC had approved a Rs 146 crore plan outlay for the University for the 12th plan and released Rs 70.21 crore for the current year.

"We in fact projected that our requirement would be around Rs 495 crore for the 12th plan and presently the UGC had approved Rs 146 crore", the Vice Chancellor said.

Chandra Krishnamoorthy is the sixth vice chancellor of the University and the first woman incumbent of the post. The University has come up on a more than 800 acre site provided free of cost by Puducherry government.

PTI