Gujarat governor applauds improved performance of boys; says ‘time to balance out’

Invoking Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad as a strong advocate of education for all, Devvrat said, “I want to congratulate the sons of this University, who have worked hard to salvage the score (hamari izzat bachane ke liye) this time.. otherwise I attend Convocations and see that first 80 of 100 students are girls and boys just sit and clap…”

Stressing on the need to balance the scale, Devvrat said, “We have been hearing from governments since some time, ‘Betiyan aage badho…’ There have been women empowerment programmes and the campaign to make women the frontrunners in all fields. The programme has been 100% successful and there is no sector in which women have not earned laurels… But until now, we have put all our strength on one side … Now, we have to also gather the other side. We have to balance the scale now. Otherwise the gap is increasing so much that it is a matter of concern…”

A total of 15,031 students were conferred with degrees at the Convocation. Out of this, 6700 are boys and 8243 are girls, Devvrat said in his speech. As per the data shared by MSU, out of a total of 354 gold medals conferred upon students, 108 were bagged by male students while 246 gold medals were awarded to female students. However, since some students have bagged more than one gold medal, the actual count of gold medallists is 229– of which 66 are male and 163 are female gold medallists. AS per university officials, about 185 gold medallists remained present at the Convocation ceremony to receive the medals.

Officials of MS University told this newspaper that the ratio of gold medallists at the 74th Convocation was “significantly balanced”, prompting the remark from the governor. A senior professor, who requested anonymity said, “Yes, it is true that the ratio of boys receiving the gold medals this time was higher as compared to the previous years… The male students have also always performed well but the girls always outperform boys. This year too, the overall number of female gold medallists is higher but the ratio is balanced. The Governor was the Chief Guest at MSU Convocation for the first time since his appointment in Gujarat and he may have made the comment from his personal observation…”

The gender-wise break up of MSU’s gold-medallists at the 74th Convocation shows that the boys outperformed the girls in the Faculty of Technology and engineering, bagging 47 gold medals as compared to 29 bagged by girls. The female students, however, bagged higher gold medals from the Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Science, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Family and Community Sciences as well as Faculty of Performing Arts and Faculty of Management Studies. All of the 24 gold medals awarded from the Faculty of Commerce were bagged by females as also the six gold medals from the Baroda Sanskrit Mahavidyalaya. On the other hand, all eight gold medals from the Faculty of Social Work were bagged by boys.

Follow ‘Dharma’  as duty, Devvrat urges students

Pointing out that the meaning of ‘Dharma’ in ancient India was meant to be ‘Kartavya (duty)’ and not religion, Governor Acharya Devvrat Saturday urged students of Maharaja Sayajirao University (MSU) to walk on the path of ‘Satya’ and ‘Dharma’ to allow actions to guide their future.

Devvrat said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been urging citizens to follow “Dharma” as duty in order to build a ‘Viksit Bharat’. Urging the students to lay the foundation of their lives on truth, Devvrat referred to the concept of Dharma in the Vedas and in ancient times, when ‘gurus’ moulded the character of students.

“When gurus spoke about Dharma, it was not to say you become a Hindu, Muslim, Yahudi or Parsi. This was not the definition of dharma in those times… Dharma was the unwavering sincerity towards your kartavya (duty)… Dharma was a responsibility towards something… For instance, if someone was said to follow ‘Matradharma’, it meant that the person was fulfilling his or her duty towards their mother; a person said to have rashtra dharma was fulfilling his duty towards the nation,” the Governor said.

“Kartavya ka naam desh me dharma hota tha (The name for duty was dharma in this country)…. Today, you and I have come into this society and discuss so much about our rights… It is alright to ask for rights but we ought to have more affirmation towards our duties,” he said.