Golden jubilee celebrations of Himachal Pradesh University to be a low-key affair

Bhanu P Lohumi

tribune news service

Shimla, July 21

The Founder’s Day-cum-golden jubilee celebrations of Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) will be a low-key affair due to the Covid-19 pandemic. A small function with a moderate gathering will be organised on the campus tomorrow.

Governor Bandaru Dattatreya will preside over the function, while Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and Education Minister Suresh Bhardwaj will be the chief guest and the guest of honour, respectively. To restrict the gathering to permissible limits, as per the Covid-19 guidelines, only members of the Executive Council and Deans of the departments have been invited to the function.

“We had planned three-day celebrations, including academic and research discussions and the main function to celebrate the occasion, but the other two functions have been cancelled. The inauguration of the multi-faculty building and the plantation ceremony will be part of the function,” said Vice-Chancellor Sikendar Kumar, adding that the annual report of the university to highlight its achievements will also be read out.

Set up on July 22, 1970, the university turns 50 tomorrow. It has grown phenomenally and got ‘A’ grade from the National Assessment Accreditation Council (NAAC) in 2016, but its multi-faculty character has diluted over a period of time.

Key achievements

• The university was first to introduce Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) in 2014
• In the past 2 years, it identified 92.13 bighas that belonged to the university and started Wi-Fi facility on the campus