Youth of the state should resolve to promote 'vocal for local' and contribute to the success of Atmanirbhar Bharat through their participation and endeavours, said Governor Prof Ganeshi Lal on Sunday.

Addressing the first convocation ceremony of Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) deemed to be university virtually, the Governor said there is no dearth of talent in tribal communities of the state but they need the right environment, encouragement, and timely exposure for their growth.

He congratulated all the graduates and appreciated the founder of the university and MP Achyuta Samanta for building an institution that has drawn global attention. The Governor also received DLitt (Honoris Causa) from the university.

The university also conferred Honoris Causa degrees on three more eminent personalities from Odisha - Comptroller and Auditor General of India Girish Chandra Murmu, Member of Parliament for Kesses Constituency Kenya Swarup Ranjan Mishra, and fashion designer Bibhu Mohapatra.

"KISS has impacted over a million tribal children and youth, which itself is a milestone in the history of tribal empowerment. It's the story of a dream-come-true which took off with 125 students on board in 1992-93 and has today become an inspiring tale of transformation beyond imagination," Samanta said.

University Chancellor Satya S Tripathi, Pro-Chancellor Upendra Tripathy, and KISS Vice-Chancellor Deepak Kumar Behera also spoke on the occasion.

Malho Mardi (2019 batch) from the School of Tribal Resource Management and Prashant Majhi (2020 batch) from School of Indigenous Knowledge, Science and Technology won the Founder's Gold Medal for securing the highest CGPA in the university across all PG programmes.