Dhanbad: The two-day 38th convocation of IIT(ISM), first since its upgrade to IIT, began on Monday with a number of firsts.

Delayed for around a month as Prime Minister Narendra Modi could not participate in the function as was his original schedule, the convocation saw 750 students receiving their degrees clad in ivory kurta pyjamas, salwar kameezes and saris for the first time at the tech college's famed Penman Auditorium. They took their oath to uphold the dignity of their institution and ethics of their profession in Sanskrit for the first time, though students not comfortable in the language could do so in English.

Also, for the first time the institute made accommodation for parents/friends attending the convocation free of cost. While accommodation for men was made at Amber and Sapphire hostels, women were put up at Rosaline hostel.

The shift seemed to go down well. Amrita Roy, who received her MSc Tech (applied geophysics) degree besides a silver medal, welcomed the departure from gowns and oath-taking in English. "We are an IIT now and the emphasis on our tradition and culture is nice," she said.

While PhD degree holders of 2016 batch, BTech and Integrated BTech and MTech students were awarded degrees during 10am to 1.30pm, postgraduate students of MTech, MBA, MSc Tech, MSc and MPhil received their degrees during the second half from 3pm to 6pm.

Around 750 more students of the 2017 batch will similarly be awarded their degrees on Tuesday in two shifts.

Chief guest Ashutosh Sharma, secretary of science and technology department, government of India, had valuable words of advice. "No matter what grades, each one of you will have equal opportunity to contribute immensely to the society and nation."

"A meaningful life is driven by curiosity, by understanding and by the will to transform the world around for the better by purposeful action," Sharma said, adding that curiosity and relentless inquiry were fundamentals to the progress of science and society. "As India emerges as one of the world's largest economies, it needs to move away from being a net customer of knowledge to being a net producer of knowledge. India needs to use the knowledge produced to effectively create new opportunities and address socio-economic needs."

He added that India needed to invest in science and technology and lead innovations more than ever before to address pressing development challenges. "We need to take technologies from research labs to society at large and offer solutions to waste management, water management, pollution control and sanitation." He stressed, "Our institutions must make the switch from passive transformation of information to critical thinking and project-based learning to stay relevant in a rapidly changing world."

Chairman of IIT(ISM) board of governors Dhanush Dhari Mishra gave details of their progress in areas including fundamental and applied research in science and engineering.

IIT(ISM) director Rajiv Shekhar, while presenting the annual report, highlighted the institute's achievements in campus placement, research, industry-institute and international collaborations, awards and recognitions, students and their activities, and infrastructure overhaul.

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