The first batch of Indian Institute of Technology, Patna, students would finally receive their certificates this December after a six-month wait.

The 85 passouts of the first batch of IIT-Patna would receive their degrees at a programme on December 23. Former President APJ Abdul Kalam would be the chief guest.

The convocation was earlier scheduled for June but had to be put off owing to a technicality. A typographical error in the Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2010, introduced by the Union human resource development ministry to hand over power to the eight new IITs and Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University (IT-BHU), led to the postponement of the convocation.

Institute of Technology, BHU, was erroneously referred to as Indian Institute of Technology-BHU.

The Lok Sabha Speaker spotted the mistake in mid-May after the bill was passed in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. It was rectified in end-May and the President cleared it on June 21.

IIT-Patna director A.K. Bhowmick confirmed the date of the convocation. “The institute will hold its first convocation function on December 23. Registration of participants has begun,” he said, adding that so far 40 students had already registered themselves for the event.

IIT-Patna administration has taken fresh guard for conducting the convocation on December 23 without any hitch. A day before the convocation, a full-scale dress rehearsal would be organised.

The administration has issued some guidelines for the passouts interested in participating in the convocation.

They have been asked to take a printout of the duly signed registration form and send it to the academic section of the institute with a demand draft of Rs 500 drawn in favour of IIT, Patna. The last date of registration is December 13. The dress code for male participants is light full-sleeve shirt, dark trousers, while the women have been asked to wear light shade sarees or salwar kurtas without any printed designs. Sporting convocation gowns would be mandatory for all the graduates attending the event.

The passouts were excited. “Receiving the degree from someone like Kalam is an honour. Also, I will get to meet my batchmates after six months. I am very excited,” Kumar Shiladitya, who is now studying MTech at IIT-Kharagpur, said.