Mangaluru: Southwestern region director of All India Council for Technical Education, Dr Ramesh Unnikrishnan has called upon the young graduates to contribute to national growth by lending a helping hand to all those in need of higher education.

Speaking at the graduation day of Shree Devi Institute of Technology, Unnikrishnan said that attempts were being made to increase the gross enrollment ratio from the present 24%. Working towards this direction, the AICTE, has increased the number of higher education institutions from 6,000 to more than 10,000 in the country.

He said that the students should always remember and be in touch with their alma mater.

Nitte University vice chancellor spoke about imparting skills to students so as to make them more employable and make them industry-ready. He also said that students should be competitive to face challenges.

More than 350 students were conferred bachelor’s degree and master degree was awarded to 150. Students who have secured gold medals and ranks from Visvesvaraya Technological University Belagavi – Akash of Mechanical Engineering (sixth rank) Namrata (MCA first rank with three gold medals), Sumitra Gadiyar, (MCA, second rank) and Amrutha (MTech in Civil Engineering, third rank) were felicitated on the occasion.

Chairman of Shree Devi Education Trust, A Sadanand Shetty presided over the programme.