As many as 1,274 graduates of 2014 and 2015 from Indian School of Mines (ISM), Dhanbad, will receive their medals and certificates at the 37th convocation to be held on April 8 and 9 as the college skipped the function last year owing to a confusion over its upgrade to an IIT.
Union HRD minister Smriti Irani, who has been invited as chief guest, is scheduled to attend the function on April 8, when students of the 2014 batch will receive their degrees. The 2015 batch graduates will get their degrees the next day.
She is also expected to inaugurate the newly-constructed academic complex, developed on campus at a cost of Rs 98 crore.
Of the 1,274 graduates, 74 toppers of BTech, MTech, MSc Tech, MPhil, MBA, PhD and dual degree programmes from both the batches will receive gold, silver and bronze medals.
ISM chairman Dhanusdhari Mishra, director Durga Charan Panigrahi, registrar Col (retd) M.K. Singh and various heads departments will be present on both the days.
Preparations are going on in full swing. A huge pandal of 25,000sqft, studded with five air conditioners of 5-tonne each, is being erected at the ISM lower grounds to host the function.
ISM registrar Singh said they were also working on beautification of the venue. "Boundary walls are being repaired, all the major buildings are being given a fresh coat of paint, Penman Auditorium is being renovated and special cleanliness drives are being carried out on campus. Besides, a plantation drive is also being carried out by the institute's horticulture department," said Singh.
The 36th convocation of ISM was held on May 10, 2014 with President Pranab Mukherjee as chief guest. However, ISM had to skip the convocation in 2015 over a confusion regarding its upgrade to an IIT as announced during the last year's budget by Union finance minister Arun Jaitley.
The ISM administration was not sure whether to confer IIT or ISM degrees to students.
A panel headed by former IIT chairman Ashok Mishra was formed to look into the upgrade proposal.
Departments without qualified teachers were asked to stop their programmes. Besides, the college was asked not to employ its research scholars as the PhD department was not found up to the mark.
