Visva-Bharati in Shantiniketan to hold special prayer meet for Manmohan Singh
Times of India | 28 December 2024
123 Santiniketan: The Visva-Bharati (VB) authority will hold a special prayer meeting on Monday to pay tribute to former PM Manmohan Singh, who was also the ex-Acharya (chancellor) of the university for three years from April 2012 during the UPA-II govt's rule at the Centre. The Visva-Bharati University has a tradition of having the incumbent Prime Minister as its chancellor. PM Narendra Modi became his predecessor for the top university postin March, 2015.
Amid the ongoing Poush Mela, the university authority has resolved to suspend all the cultural programmes at Binodan Mancha (main dais) in the fairground on Friday. Atig Ghosh, PRO of the university, said, ‘We'll organise a special mandir in his memory on Monday.' While attending the VB's annual convocation on Dec 6, 2008 at Shantiniketan, Singh had described the visit as the ‘most satisfying experience' of his life.‘To come to Santiniketan is to come on a pilgrimage. One senses here a presence of the sacred and the timeless, as also the energy of the contemporary. As one who started his professional life as a teacher, I have great affinity for institutions of learning Here, in Santiniketan, I can have no hesitation in confessing that teaching was, in a vital sense, the most satisfying experience of my life," Singh had said at the event.
During his tenure, a high-level committee under the chairmanship of former Bengal governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi was formed with a view to restore the university to its pre-eminence .
From the convocation dais, Singh had announced Rs 95 crore was sanctioned for VB.A former official of the university said, "Whenever we sent any letter or met him in Delhi, he showed prompt and positive response."
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