Why so serious? PM Modi asks IIT Kanpur students at convocation, gives them career advice

He congratulated IITians for making India the second biggest startup hub in the world and said that this feat has been achieved majorly with the help of students from IITs
Turning career guru for a while, the Prime Minister also said that success never comes from comfort (Pic: Express)
Turning career guru for a while, the Prime Minister also said that success never comes from comfort (Pic: Express)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi started off his address at the 54th convocation ceremony of the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur on December 28 with a funny quip, "Is it necessary to be this serious at a convocation?" asked the PM. The Prime Minister launched blockchain-based digital degrees at the ceremony. Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath attended the function as guests of honour.

The Prime Minister also urged the students to keep the human intelligence in them spritely. "Even though we are surrounded by technology today, we must not forget that we are humans. We should not turn into robot versions of ourselves. While we all must explore artificial intelligence, we must not neglect human intelligence," he said.

He said that the students who are graduating today will make India proud for the next 25 years and when the country celebrates its 100th year of independence, the contributions from these students will be the highlight. "The students being felicitated today are also being bestowed upon with the responsibility of guiding India towards success for the next 25 years. This century is completely technology-driven," he said. "Students have invested the most important years of their lives in learning about technology. And this will make it impossible for any other force to stop you from excelling. When India will celebrate its 100th year of independence, it will include the contribution of all the students who are present here today," added Modi. 

Pic: Edexlive

Turning career guru for a while, the Prime Minister also said that success never comes from comfort. "Once you step outside the college, a lot of people will come to you with shortcuts to success. But when asked to choose between comfort and challenge, I would advise you all to go for the latter. The one who faces challenges and overcomes them with efficient solutions is the one who scales the greatest heights," he told the students.

He congratulated IITians for making India the second biggest startup hub in the world and said that this feat has been achieved majorly with the help of students from IITs. "IIT Kanpur's contribution in developing 5G technology has been recognised globally. We should have achieved a lot of things by the time India completed 25 years of independence. But unfortunately, we couldn't do much. But now, we do not have even two minutes to waste. We must strive religiously for a self-reliant (atmanirbhar) nation. If we are not self-reliant, then how will India succeed and scale ultimate heights? And this can be done only by the youth of this country," said the Prime Minister.

The students were issued digital degrees through an in-house blockchain-driven technology developed at the institute under the National Blockchain Project. These digital degrees can be verified globally and are forgery-proof. IIT-K is hosting a physical convocation after a year as it was held virtually last year.

(with inputs from PTI)

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