According to officials of the university, they received a fax from Raj Bhavan on Wednesday evening informing them that Governor

Devanand Konwar would not be able to attend the convocation “because of his prior engagements”.

Konwar, who is the Governor of Bihar, was given the additional charge of Bengal after the term of Gopalkrishna Gandhi came to an end earlier this month.

On Thursday morning Konwar was in Kolkata and he administered the oath to the new Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court.

“We have heard that Patna University was holding its convocation today. Naturally, since he is the Governor of Bihar, he attended the convocation at Patna University,” said Siddhartha Datta, Pro-Vice Chancellor of Jadavpur University.

In the absence of the Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor Pradip Narayan Ghosh awarded degrees to over 2,000 students. Three honorary degrees were also awarded that included eminent theatre personality Habib Tanvir who passed away earlier this year. Noted singer Sandhya Mukherjee and academician Vina Majumdar were also awarded with honorary degrees.

A section of the students and teachers said the convocation was a lacklustre one as they had got used to listening words of wisdom from former Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi.

“We all were present at the convocation but what I had heard from my seniors was missing this time. Getting degree from Chancellor, I hope, must had been a different experience altogether,” said Niladri Bhattacharya, who got his degree in engineering today.

The convocation used to be most sought after affair at the Jadvapur University till last year where academicians, students and media used to be present in a large number. During his tenure, Gandhi addressed five convocations at the university in a row and his speeches used to garner huge applauses.

Univ ranks 14 among country’s top science institutes
Among the top 35 universities in science and technology in the country, Jadvapur University ranks 14. This was stated by Vice-Chancellor of the university Pradip Narayan Ghosh on Thursday during the annual convocation ceremony. He also said the university ranks six in terms of engineering and science institutes in the country and second in terms of publication. Vice-Chancellor said the rankings have been made on the basis of a study conducted by National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies, New Delhi. He said the university got a score of 3.61 out of 4 during a recent assessment by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council.

“Jadvapur University is the topmost institute as far as eastern India is considered,” said Siddhartha Datta, Pro-Vice Chancellor of JU. Officials of the university said that even Calcutta University, one of the oldest universities in the country from the state, does not figure in the list of best institutions.