 Ladies and gentlemen, the academic procession of the second convocation of Krishnakanta Handic State Open University has been formed outside and soon will enter the convocation hall. The academic procession will be led by the registrar in charge and will comprise of the vice chancellor, the chief guest, the dean study center and the members of board of management and academic council of the university. I request all to kindly stand up as the academic procession enters the convocation hall and to remain standing until the dignitaries take their respective seats which will be followed by the rendition of the university anthem. Thank you. With the permission of the vice and the leave of the house, I would like to share the information that the honorable chancellor of this university and his excellency governor of Assam under the provisions of the Krishnakanta Handic State Open University Act has delegated the power to preside over this convocation to honorable vice chancellor of this university. I request the vice chancellor to declare the convocation open. I declare the convocation open. The respected professor Rabindra Kumar, honorable vice chancellor in Raghandi National Open University, respected founder vice chancellor of our university, Professor Srinath Boruvan, esteemed members of the board of management and academic council of our university, distinguished guests, awardees, ladies and gentlemen. It is indeed a great moment for all of us to be a part of the second convocation and I on behalf of the honorable chancellor and the board of management of Krishnakanta Handic State Open University extend my hearty welcome to everyone present in this August gathering. It is a special privilege for all of us to have Professor Rabindra Kumar and eminent name in the field of open and distance education who is kindly agreed to be here with us to deliver the convocation address. It is also great pleasure to welcome the degree holders of this university and successful learners. I am happy to note that our huge learner based includes security personnel from the state working across the country who could not pursue their education in time but their services are crucial to the society. Again the university is proud to extend educational services to those individuals who are above 60 years of age that means our senior citizens who could not attend conventional educational institutions due to their various circumstantial problems. The university also provides educational services to jail inmates and differently able learners. Our university puts stress on Omen empowerment and the number of successful Omen learners is an indicator of our efforts in the direction. Our open and distance food of delivering education make us proud of they truly uphold the spirit behind our motto education beyond barriers. India's Northeast has a number of problems which are yet to be addressed in a scientific manner so that we can build up the coming years a truly productive and meaningful, efficient and effective human resources. Creating an economically meaningful human resource pool is one of the main concerns of the state. The global gross enrollment ratio stands in 30 percent. Our state is yet to achieve this ratio which certainly indicates the poor level of penetration of our conventional educational tools and institutions. This frankly indicates the necessity of creating institutions of open and distance education. Established under the provision of the Krishna Kanda Handic State Opinion University Act 2005 of the State Legislative Assembly of Assam published in the Assam Gadget, Krishna Kanda Handic State Opinion University started functioning with Professor Srinath Gourwa assuming office at its first vice chancellor with effect from 11 December 2006. The university has recognized and its academic problems have been approved by the distance education council from 2007. And university grants commission from 2009. In addition that the government of Assam has recognized all degree diploma certificate programs of this university for job and higher study from May 8 2009. The university started functioning from 11 December 2006. It was the 14th Opinion University in the country and it was also the first Opinion University in the entire Northeast India. As it was the first of its kind of that in the region, certainly it has to face a number of challenges and consequently has to devise innovative and practical solutions to address these inherent problems. The journey of this university had a modest beginning with just 2,623 learners. Its academic journey has encompasses more than 150,000 learners. For a university which has witnessed just 10 years experience, this is a strong indicator of its successful presentation, relevance of its academic programs and itself has success story for others to follow. The university is a temple of knowledge. Again as the famous columnist back on reminded us long ago, knowledge is power. In this context, a university creates a knowledge bank and further facilitates different ways to channelize these ingredients of knowledge for the benefit of the others. Knowledge creates possibilities and these possibilities help us to realize our potentials. With our 53 academic programs, through our 351 study centers, including 13 jail centers, we are able to create sufficient channels and moods of delivering education for all sections of the society. Kristagandha Hendrix State Open University has special emphasis on underprivileged and marginalized sections of the society. The aim is to bring members of the startup society within the ambit of the educational umbrella, thereby making them capable of enjoying rights as citizens of the country and socially empowered individuals. This is certainly difficult task for an open university whose reasons are limited and tools of penetration into the harsh condition of life are indeed rudimentary. We are faced with challenges and we accept them as unavailable circumstances of our educational journey. To make our educational courses full of flexibility and comprehensive of our learners, we introduce the community radio gang Tarangak, its mobile apps, online tools, CDs and other necessary instruments so that we can transgress every barrier that we stand in our way. Certainly university cannot run its academic activities and broaden your social horizon without a concrete vision and action plan. For a regional university like us, challenges before us determine our process of action and moods of operation, we can achieve our goals and materialize our dreams if we can set our priorities and carve our trajectories in short, where to be guided by our vision plan. Kristagandha Hendrix State Open University has already empowered its journey which is vision plan, vision document 2030 approved by the Board of Management. The university desires to produce learners who understand our vision can contribute substantially to regional and transnational development. Our success will be demonstrated by the number of learners who can continuously attract. In the second convocation, we are conferring degrees on 34920A. Today the university is proud to send 32233 graduates in the world as enlightened and empowered individuals. We have with us 9 PhDs and 2678 master's. The university will contribute by strengthening its study centers and introducing a competitive environment in which the learners will be guided by career-driven aspirations and goals. For that, we have recently established 13 Zelle study centers and 183 Zelle inmates are pursuing different courses in our university in the open mode. The university will create adequate mechanisms to understand the needs of the learning community and their expectations from this Institute of Higher Learning. An educational institution is also a social institution. It reminds us of the much quoted dictum that man is a social animal. To make his presence socially more meaningful and culturally more relevant, Kristagandha Hendrix State Open University has introduced the Kristagandha Hendrix National Award and the Kristagandha Hendrix National Fellowship. In 2015, Kristagandha Hendrix National Award was presented to a minute speech scientist, Jitannurad Goswami, and the first Kristagandha Hendrix National Fellowship was presented to internationally acclaimed film director, Jahanu Burwa. For that, I am happy to note that the Kristagandha Hendrix National Award of 2016 was presented to non-other than Professor Meenal Miri, distinguished educator of the country and a philosopher of international review. Again, Kristagandha Hendrix State Open University also has the privilege of introducing the KK Hendrix Memorial Lecture based on the philosophy of creating an environment where all members of the society can interact meaningfully to nurture conditions of better livelihood and a goal-driven life. The university invited Nobel Laureate Koelaj Satarthi to deliver this lecture in 2015. Satarthi's carefully chosen topic for the event, the role of youth in protecting world's left-out children is an eye-opener for all of us. Certainly, it was a delightful and enlightening moment for all of us present on the 20th July 2015. Further, the accordance with the spirit of the university, internationally acclaimed film director Guddu Dev Dasgupta delivered the KK Hendrix Memorial Lecture on 20th July 2016 with the title Art and Experience in Celluloid, for he had made an impressive and intelligent presentation. Further, with our APJ Abdul Kalam Social Welfare Mission and Madar Teresa Social Welfare Mission, both started in 2015, the university is taking certain bold steps that includes adoption of ethnic villages and free education to the girls' time. The university has been providing free education to jail inmates, differently abled learners and economically poor individuals all across the state. This is an indicator of our moral responsibility to provide education for the disadvantaged section of the society. With our recent Prajapura Memorial Documentary Film Festival, this university has made the maiden effort to address the problems of jail inmates who happen to our learners. This is the first effort in the entire country address the lives and courses of jail inmates for a constructive beginning. We are proud of the fact that the university has already completed two documentary festivals at Guwahati Central Jail and Mongoloid District Jail. It is a proud privilege for all of us that the internationally acclaimed film director Anubhav Ra took active part in these two documentary festivals and his participation gave a new lease of life to the jail inmates. The success of this humble beginning will inspire us to continue screening of documentaries under the banner of this festival in other jails of the state also. Further, the university desires to organize this festival in a phase-wise basis in different colleges across the state. The university believes that it has a moral duty to strengthen its publication wing. For that, it has already started a project that includes compilation of Assam's cylinder literature which is supposed to cover 20 volumes. Again, it is a widely accepted fact that Assam's historical narrative is strong in character and content. Therefore, to preserve all these documents, the university is going to start a similar endeavor concerning compilation of these historical narratives. Friends, we live in a rich society. Uncertainties are real threats. Our choices are guided by the fact that our resources are limited. To set our priorities again, all odds, we need sufficient exercises in terms of planning and locating our inherent strength and weakness. Long ago, at the dawn of our civilization, a thought emerged that unveiled a view and unexamined life is not worth living. In a convocation where we are conferring degrees on our successful learners, we are creating an opportunity to examine our activities against certain strict parameters. I, as the vice chancellor of this university, sincerely hope that this op-ed mood of education will surely bring new lights and rays of hope for all the learners with this hall as well as outside. Thank you. The degrees are to be conferred now. First of all, Doctor of Philosophy. I urge upon the candidates for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to please stand up. Sir, I present to you the candidates who have been examined and found qualified for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to which I pray that they may now be admitted by Varsup or vested in the Chancellor of KK Hendrick State of University. I, on behalf of the Chancellor, admit you to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and I charge you that ever in your life and conversation you show yourselves already of the same. The candidates, as announced, are requested to come one by one and receive the degrees from the Vice Chancellor, Shwasotinas, Saranandewri, Debakor Maut, Bhridushmitakashyap, Jury Hazarika, Sumitrosen, Bidisa Lahkar Das, Bidisa Lahkar Das, Sonnon Thakurya, Nadul Dewri. Next is Master of Business Administration, Computer Applications, Information Technology, Mass Communication, Social Work, SMEs, English, Education, Political Science and Sociology. I urge upon the candidates for the degree of Master of Business Administration, Computer Applications, Information Technology, Mass Communication, Social Work, SMEs, English, Education, Political Science and Sociology to please stand up. Sir, I present to you the candidates who have been examined and found qualified for the degree of Master of Business Administration, Computer Applications, Information Technology, Mass Communication, Social Work, SMEs, English, Education, Political Science and Sociology to which I pray that they may now be admitted. By Bhrisotna Power, vested in the Chancellor of KKHentix State Open University, I on behalf of the Chancellor admit you to the degree of Master of Administration, Computer Applications, Information Technology, Mass Communication, Social Work, SMEs, English, Education, Political Science and Sociology and I serve you that ever in your life and converses on you show yourselves already of the same. Next in absentia Master of Business Administration, Computer Applications, Information Technology, Mass Communication, Social Work, SMEs, English, Education, Political Science and Sociology in absentia. Sir, on behalf of other candidates who have been examined and found qualified for degree of Master of Business Administration, Computer Applications, Information Technology, Mass Communication, Social Work, SMEs, English, Education, Political Science and Sociology, but could not attend and have been permitted to receive their degrees in absentia. I pray that they may be admitted to the degree. By virtue of the power vested in the Chancellor of KK Hendrick State Open University, I on behalf of the Chancellor admit such candidates to the degree of Master of Business Administration, Computer Applications, Information Technology, Mass Communication, Social Work, SMEs, English, Education, Political Science and Sociology in absentia.