Srinagar : The National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) Srinagar on Monday celebrated its third Convocation at its new Campus at Ompora, Budgam. The ceremony was held for the batch of 40 outgoing students.
According to an official statement issued on Monday the event was attended by Union Secretary of Ministry of Textiles Upendra Prasad Singh as the Chief Guest while Director General NIFT Shantamanu was the Guest of the Honour at the occasion. Dean Academics NIFT Prof. (Dr.) Vandana Narang also attended the occasion.
Deputy Commissioner Budgam, Syed Fakhrudin Hamid, Registrar Kashmir University Dr Nisar Ahmad Mir, SSP Budgam Tahir Saleem Khan and other dignitaries were also present at the occasion.
The Convocation was celebrated to award the degrees besides gold medals and other felicitations under different categories to the outgoing meritorious students of the campus.
In a two-hour-long ceremony held at the institute’s amphitheatre, the students began with the graduation pledge wherein they promised to uphold the sanctity and dignity of their profession.
In his address, the Union Secretary in the Ministry of Textiles asked the students to make their career a beautiful journey rather than indulging in making it a rat race.
“You have to be at the right place at the right time to do well in your life because you are taking off and you should make best use of your passion, career and life,” he said.
Speaking about the campus, the Secretary said the NIFT Srinagar was the iconic and one of the ideal campuses of NIFT given the serene location, surroundings and the space wherein all the facilities have been set up within the premises.
He said the NIFT Srinagar is the state-of-the-art campus which is being established as a fully residential campus as it is far from the main city.
He said the Government of India has extended its full support for the establishment of the campus with a financial support of more than Rs 250 crores.
“We have also made good efforts in strengthening the campus in terms of the faculty. From last year, we have made progress in recruitment of the faculty. We are giving a 20 percent additional incentive to the faculty to retain them at Srinagar campus,” he said.
About the courses, the Secretary said the institute, at the beginning, started with the two courses while last year two more courses were introduced at the institute.
“Next year we will introduce two more courses and efforts will be to gradually increase the number of courses to 10,” he said.
He said around 35 percent reservation is given to local students and advised the campus director to make more and more awareness about the campus and the courses offered at the institute in order to have more local students at the campus.
Earlier in his address, Director General NIFT Shantamanu said he has an emotional connection with NIFT Srinagar as he was involved as Secretary in J&K Industries and Commerce department and as DG NIFT in setting up the campus.
“I am thankful to the government for having this campus at such a serene location,” he said, adding that the campus has a lot of potential.
“Apart from general courses, we should have a lot of activities here to make it buzzing,” he said.
He said the campus should be utilized for carrying forward the activities of other departments and should also become a “must visit” destination for the tourists.
He also advised the students that rather than package, they should focus on their passion and creativity after graduating from the campus.
Earlier, in his welcome address, the Director NIFT Srinagar Dr Javid Ahmad Wani extended gratitude to the guests and other audience present at the occasion and also briefed about the academic report of the institute.
He congratulated the graduating batch and advised them to serve the nation.
Meanwhile during the award ceremony, the graduating students from Fashion Communication and Fashion Technology department were awarded their degrees while some students were felicitated with Gold Medal, cash prize and other felicitations for their outstanding performances in their course.
Muskan Reyaz from the department of Fashion Designing was awarded with the best student of the year award during the Convocation ceremony.
Joint Director NIFT Srinagar Sandeep Sachan presented a vote of thanks at the end of the Convocation ceremony
