Chairman of the IIT Bhubaneswar board of governors SK Roongta presents a memento to President Pranab Mukherjee at the second annual convocation of the institute, in Bhubaneswar on Saturday. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar/Puri, Sept. 7: President Pranab Mukherjee today expressed confidence that the nation would overcome the current economic crisis.

“Our economy is facing a number of challenges but India has the necessary resources to handle the situation,” said Mukherjee, addressing the convocation ceremony of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.

Mukherjee said the depreciation of the rupee was a matter of concern but urged people to be confident about overcoming the problem. “The country has had a good monsoon this year and it is expected to have a favourable impact on the food grains,” said the President.

Mukherjee, who wound up his two-day visit to the state today, spent last night in Puri and had darshan of the deities at the 12th century Jagannath temple this morning before leaving for Bhubaneswar. During his visit to the shrine, the President reportedly expressed concern over the tardy progress of restoration and conservation work being undertaken by the Archaeological Survey of India.

Chief temple administrator Arvind Padhee said: “The President has asked the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to complete the ongoing repairs before the Nabakalebara yatra (ceremony to mark the change of idols to be held in 2015).” Official sources said the ASI had already prepared the blueprint for the work to be executed at the temple.

The President was received at the temple gate by Puri King Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingh Dev. The temple administration presented him with a painting depicting the Kanchi Abhijaan legend.

Returning to Bhubaneswar, Mukherjee attended the convocation ceremonies of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Bhubaneswar and Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.

Addressing the second convocation of the IIT, Mukherjee stressed the need for improving the quality of education in Indian institutes. “Although our efforts at expanding higher education infrastructure in India have yielded positive results, very few academic institutions can claim global reckoning for lack of quality. As per an international ranking, there is not a single Indian university, including the IITs, amongst the top 200 universities in the world,” said the President.

He said that for about 1,800 years beginning sixth century BC, India had an unbeatable higher education system represented by universities such as Takshila, Nalanda, Vikramashila and so on. “They were magnets for knowledge seekers... But today, we lag behind many nations.”