Manipal: 25th Convocation of T A Pai Management Institute held

Manipal, March 25: The 25^th Convocation of T A Pai Management Institute, Manipal was held on Friday, March 25. The chief guest for the event was Dr Narendra Jadhav, Member, Planning Commission, Government of India, and Member, National Advisory Council, Government of India.

Dr. H S Ballal, Pro-Chancellor of Manipal University and Member of TAPMI Governing Council declared the Convocation open. The Dean of Academics, TAPMI, Prof Simon George welcomed the gathering. This was followed by the annual report of TAPMI's activities and achievements by Dr. Saji Gopinath, Director of TAPMI. Dr. H S Ballal congratulated the graduating students and wished them the best in life.

The chief guest, Dr Narendra Jadhav presented the medals and diplomas to the graduating students. Dr Saji Gopinath then administered the oath to the graduates. This was followed by presentation of merit awards and special awards to the students. Dr. Narendra Jadhav released the annual TAPMI 'UPDATE' magazine and handed it over to the other guests on the dais.

Dr. Jadhav addressed this momentous gathering by speaking about the importance of management graduates in this competitive world. He talked about how the demographic dividend and the pace of growth of the country are of advantage to the young leaders. Dr. Jadhav also emphasized on the liberalization of the Indian economy in the last 20 years, and how that has tremendously improved the standard of living of the people.

However, he mentioned that the benefits of these reforms have not been evenly distributed across the different strata of the society, nor have the job creation opportunities increased. Dr. Jadhav also talked about India's poor human development index as one of the biggest weaknesses of the country. He also spoke about inflation as a big burden for the country. Hence, India faces a major challenge in balancing economic growth with social growth. Dr. Jadhav was, however, optimistic about the future of the country. He emphasized that never in the history of India have the people been so confident and commanded respect from the rest of the world.

In this context, Dr. Jadhav advised the graduating batch that in order to achieve success in life, they have to aim high, strive to achieve what they want, manage their time effectively, focus on quality, value the important people in their lives, and most importantly, maintain a positive attitude throughout their lives.

Prof. Chowdari Prasad, Dean-Planning & Development, TAPMI proposed the vote of thanks. Dr. Ballal declared the Convocation ceremony closed.