more-in Determinants of the quality of higher education institutions should be tied to accreditations, rather than inspections under the ambit of regulatory councils, said Dr. G. Viswanathan, founder-Chancellor of the Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT). “If this is effected, higher education institutes of India can unfurl more developmental strategies for implementation, in the larger interests of the student community and the teaching fraternity,” he said. He was recently delivering the convocation address of Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth, a Deemed to be University, at the university campus in Pillayarkuppam. In his convocation address, Dr. Viswanathan wanted the Government of India to spend more on education and devise opportunities for everyone to receive quality education. India was still spending way below the required minimum of 6% of its GDP on education and this needed to change if the country was to figure prominently, in the comity of developed nations, he said. “Private institutions and deemed universities should be supported in their mission to reach the unreached and the government should offer more educational loans and scholarships to needy and meritorious students,” he said. Dr. Viswanathan also highlighted the role of private entrepreneurship in education, especially those which need the patronage of the government, in order to forge ahead, in several academic fronts. The VIT Chancellor, who was the chief guest, awarded 54 medals of academic excellence to toppers of various courses, from the faculty of medicine, dentistry, nursing and allied health sciences. The founder-Chancellor of Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth, M.K. Rajagopalan, who presided over the solemn academic ceremony, conferred degrees on 905 graduands, from the constituent colleges, including Mahatma Gandhi Medical College & Research Institute, Shri Sathya Sai Medical College & Research Institute, Indira Gandhi Institute of Dental Sciences, Kasturba Gandhi Nursing College and Faculty of Allied Health Sciences. Annual report presented The Vice-Chancellor of Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth, Prof. K.R. Sethuraman presented the annual report. The highlights of the report included a number of important national and international events, community outreach activities, patient services, research, publications and a plethora of accolades and achievements of the faculty and the students. The Dean (Research), Prof. N. Ananthakrishnan administered the pledge to the graduands. The Registrar Prof. A.R. Srinivasan participated.

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