PM Modi to address Visva-Bharati university convocation on Friday

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the convocation of the

Visva-Bharati

University on Friday via video conferencing, the Prime Minister's Office said.


West Bengal governor and Rector of Visva-Bharati

Jagdeep Dhankhar

, Union education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Union MoS for education Sanjay Dhotre will also be present on the occasion.

Prime Minister Modi will address the convocation of Visva-Bharati on February 19 at 11am via video conferencing, the PMO said in a statement.

A total of 2,535 students will receive their degrees during the ceremony, the statement said.

Visva-Bharati, situated at

Shantiniketan

, was founded by Rabindranath Tagore in 1921. It is the oldest central university in the country.

In May 1951, Visva-Bharati was declared to be a central university and "an Institution of National Importance" by an Act of Parliament.

The university followed the pedagogy devised by Tagore, though gradually it evolved in the format in which modern universities developed elsewhere.

The Prime Minister is also the chancellor of the university.