Jadavpur University is not taking the convocation fee of Rs 500 each from the graduating students as the university will not hold on-campus convocation this year because of the Covid pandemic, an official said.

About 4,000 students have graduated this year — undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD put together.

The convocation fee is collected to distribute gowns among the recipients and for the laminated degree certificate given to each.

“Since the convocation will not be held on campus and the students don’t have to be present in person to receive the certificates, we have decided not to take any convocation fee,” JU vice-chancellor Suranjan Das told Metro.

At JU, the convocation is traditionally held at the open-air theatre on December 24.

The need for maintaining physical distance and other health concerns because of the Covid-19 outbreak have forced the university not to hold the convocation in the usual way.

“Besides, the health experts are apprehending that the virus could become more virulent during winter. We cannot risk any physical assembly on the campus in winter,” said an official.

Regular classes are being held on the digital platforms as the campus has remained closed since March.

A university official said since the convocation will either be held virtually or not be held at all, they have decided not to charge the convocation fee.

The university will either courier the degree certificates to the residential addresses of the recipients or upload the certificates for the recipients to download them later.

The university could also ask the students to come to the campus and collect the certificates in a staggered way.

“We are exploring whether the convocation could be held virtually like the way IIT Guwahati and IIT Kanpur did. We are also keeping track of what Presidency University had done early this year,” another official said.

Presidency this year had issued digital degree certificates that were collected online in February. The university had scrapped the convocation amid the buzz that the College Street institution was reluctant to hold the ceremony to spare itself the trouble of inviting the chancellor — governor Jagdeep Dhankhar — to the programme.

The governor around that time had faced students’ protests on several campuses, mostly because of his comments in support of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens.

At Jadavpur University, as the court or the executive council could not meet because of the pandemic, no names have been decided for the DLitt and DSc recipients.