In a first, 1166 Graduating Students at IIM Kozhikode Go Ethnic to Mark Institute’s 25th Annual Convocation

Kozhikode: The Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIMK), one of India’s premier institutions held its 25^th Annual Convocation here in the campus today. The Convocation witnessed a total of 1166 students conferred with titles and degrees. Hon’ble Union Minister for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs, Govt of India Shri V Muraleedharan  was the Chief Guest for the 25h Annual Convocation. Dr. Praveer Sinha, CEO and MD of the Tata Power Company Ltd. was the Guest of Honour. The dignitaries were joined by Shri A Vellayan, Chairman IIMK Board of Governors (BoG), Prof. Debashis Chatterjee, Director IIMK, Members of IIMK BoG, faculty, staff, students and their families on this solemn occasion.

After two years of gruelling schedules and academic rigour, the class of 2023 witnessed 470 participants from the Silver Jubilee batch of IIMK’s flagship Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP-25) being awarded the MBA degree. Besides the flagship PGP programme, the graduating students also included 10 students from IIM Kozhikode’s Doctoral Programme in Management (PhD), 64 students from the one-year full time Post Graduate Programme in Business Leadership (PGP-BL 03), 38 students from the batch of Post Graduate Programme in Finance (PGP-Finance 02) and 51 students from the Post Graduate Programme in Liberal Studies and Management (PGP-LSM 02).

In a first, the graduating students of IIMK Class of 2023 created history by becoming the first IIM to shun the convocation gowns and go completely ethnic to mark the Silver Jubilee of Annual Convocation. All 1166 students, both male (kurta pyjamas, mundus) and female (kurta pyjama, sarees), were dressed in traditional Indian attire in matching maroon hues to celebrate IIMK’s motto and Vision 2047 “Globalizing Indian Thought”.

In his Convocation Address, Shri V Muraleedharan, congratulated the graduating students and appreciated the IIM Kozhikode community for creating the best in class human resources and leaders for the world. Addressing the graduating students in his Convocation he added “The Century belongs to young minds and brilliant ambassadors like you. Next 25 years are crucial to India’s trajectory and growth story. You have a significant role to play in this tech-driven century by nurturing entrepreneurship to create an Atma Nirbhar Bharat. Linking personal goals to national goals is the key to achieve this.” He also brought forth the human-centric globalisation approach by the current union government and the various policy decisions like the introduction of National Education Policy 2020, which will help capture the demographic dividend for the growth of the country.

Dr Praveer Sinha, in his address to students, took a leaf out of his illustrious corporate experience and spoke about the importance of character building in difficult times. He termed this decade and the century as India’s decade and century; and encouraged the students to play a significant role in India’s growth story by adopting the combination of digital technology and sustainability.

Shri A Vellayan thanked Shri V Muraleedhar and Dr Praveer Sinha for gracing the occasion and congratulated the graduating students. He said IIMK has adopted a conscientious approach to remain relevant to the skill need of business in the ever dynamic environment.  Adding further, he said “This has been possible through cohesive participation and concerted efforts by faculty, students, alumni, industry and institutional partners and all the other stakeholders.  We strongly believe in identifying specific skill needs of business and, accordingly, take innovative approach to inculcate these skills in students. “

Prof. Debashis Chatterjee, in his address thanked the dignitaries, families of the students on behalf of the IIMK community. He added that “IIM Kozhikode has a bifocal vision committing to the short term as well as the long term objectives. We are proud to admit that our students are not just competent individuals but also compassionate human beings, guided by IIMK’s ethos of Satyam (Authenticity), Nityam (Sustainability) and Purnam (fulfilment).” He invoked Swami Vivekananda and encouraged the graduating students to strive hard till they achieve all their future goals.

Earlier in the day, the students of IIM Kozhikode’s Executive Education Programmes received their degree in the presence of Mr Romel Shetty, Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte India, the Chief Guest for the forenoon session of the 25th Annual Convocation. The function witnessed 454 students from the Executive Post Graduate Programme – Interactive Learning Mode (EPGP) and 79 students from the Executive Post Graduate Programme – Kochi Campus (EPGP Kochi Campus) receiving their MBA degree.