JNU degrees not just individual achievements but also responsibility towards society: Dharmendra Pradhan
Press Trust of India | January 12, 2026 | 09:21 PM IST | 1 min read
Dharmendra Pradhan's visit to the campus comes days after some students allegedly raised "provocative" slogans against PM Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah inside the JNU campus.
NEW DELHI: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday told graduating students at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) that the degrees of the varsity are not just individual achievements but also a responsibility towards society.
Delivering his address at the university's convocation, the minister said the JNU has built a strong and distinctive legacy of academic excellence through decades of sustained academic contribution, and it continues to remain among the country's premier universities by upholding academic autonomy within a vibrant interdisciplinary ecosystem, where critical thinking forms the core of its ethos.
The minister's visit to the campus comes days after some students allegedly raised "provocative" slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah inside the JNU campus. "JNU degrees are not individual achievements but also a responsibility towards the society.
The graduating students are expected to uphold and further strengthen JNU's legacy of inclusivity , social justice and responsibility, serve as the voice of the marginalised, and actively contribute to reducing inequalities in society," he said. Pradhan underlined that JNU graduates would play a decisive role in nation-building.
Also read JNUTA accuses JNU of 'criminalising protest', calls FIR over students' event 'ridiculous'
He said that many would drive innovation and entrepreneurship by building start-ups and unicorns, while several would shape the nation's intellectual discourse as writers, journalists and thought leaders.
"The nation expects them to make an active, positive and meaningful contribution towards realising Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's vision of Viksit Bharat – 2047," he said.
On January 5, some students allegedly raised "provocative" slogans against Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Shah inside the JNU campus after the Supreme Court denied bail to activists and former JNU students Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case.
Follow us for the latest education news on colleges and universities, admission, courses, exams, research, education policies, study abroad and more..
To get in touch, write to us at news@careers360.com.
Quick Watch
]Next Story
]Featured News
]- ‘Weaken universities’: Bihar teachers on month-long protest against plan to bring colleges under govt control
- ‘Have seen 8 suicides’: Why hundreds of IIT Delhi B.Tech students are protesting over Rishikesh Kumar’s death
- ‘Cover-up, conflict of interest’: Visva Bharati prof files RTI, VBUFA says facts buried in disciplinary cases
- University of Southampton Delhi to launch 30 courses over next decade, expand to STEM, health, arts: Provost
- Maharashtra’s draft coaching regulation law based on Kota-like centres, will harm small classes: Association
- ‘Cancel admissions’: Jamia Millia students allege lower rank-holders given seats over toppers, protest
- MGR Medical University releases faculty data of 13,000 teaching staff after TN group’s transparency push
- ICAR DDG: ‘NEP rollout priority; multiple entry-exit option helps bring students back to BSc agriculture’
- Removing deprivation points from admissions will change JNU’s character, make it elitist: Professor
- Tamil Nadu plans to strengthen Govt college libraries, polytechnics and diploma engineering courses