About 200 graduating students of Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira came to the Belur campus on Saturday afternoon to collect their degree certificates at a convocation that was held adhering to all Covid-19 protocols.

As the degree recipients stepped on the campus wearing masks, their body temperature was measured with thermal scanners. Rows of foot-operated sanitiser dispensers were put up from the entrance to the campus.

The degree recipients (undergraduate, postgraduate, MPhil and PhD) were split into two groups — one group attended the convocation in Vivekananda Sabhagriha and the other in AshaJyoti Conference Hall. This was done to ensure maximum possible physical distance among the attendees. Inside the halls, too, adequate distance was maintained among those present.

Before entering the venue, each recipient collected a scarf from the reception desk. The scarves were distributed by student volunteers wearing masks and gloves.

Swami Ekachittananda, the principal of Vidyamandira, which has featured among the top 11 institutions in the National Institutional Ranking Framework over the past three years, said they took special care while honouring the medal recipients.

“As they came on the dais, the medal and the books were given on a plastic tray. In previous years the medals would be placed around the neck of the recipients and the books on their hands. This year we avoided the traditional practice to comply with the Covid protocol,” he told Metro.

The degree certificates were handed to the students from a designated counter in a staggered way in an open space outside the halls.

The chairs and tables on the dais were placed at a considerable distance from one another.

Pravin Srivastava, a former chief statistician of India, delivered the convocation address virtually.

The two-hour ceremony, which started at noon, was live streamed on YouTube so that the family members who could not attend the event because of the pandemic got a feel of it.

“This year we did not allow the degree recipients to be accompanied by family members as a precaution against Covid. We hope they got a feel of the event on the digital platform,” said an official of the college.

Unlike previous years, the recipients this year were not allowed to put up at hostels on the campus. ’’No one was allowed in the hostels, which are empty because the students are all home and are attending classes on digital platforms because of the pandemic,’’ said a college teacher.

Calcutta University’s pro-vice-chancellor for academic affairs, Ashis Chatterjee, called out the names of the degree recipients seated in the halls.

Swami Divyananda, the secretary of the college, said in his address: “Dear boys – never forget that it is to this glorious educational lineage that you belong. So you can well imagine the responsibility that you would be carrying to prove your worth as the alumnus of this institute. In other words, have you become a morally responsible person in the truest sense of the term? If yes, you’ve jus-tified your stay in this noble institution for the last few years.”