General Secretary's Address - Welcome Function for 1st Students of BTech/DualDegree Programme

A very good morning to all. I am Prasad Dudhgaonkar, the General Secretary of student body of IIT Madras. Basically I am a PhD Research Scholar from Department of Mechanical Engineering.

I welcome all new students of BTech and Dual Degree programme and their parents on behalf student community of IIT Madras. We also congratulate new students for making into IIT Madras through a tough competition.

You may already have become aware of the life in our institute through the wep-portal and earlier speeches... not to forget the beautiful brochure made by Guidance and Counselling Unit.

Like every other world class institution, our institution also demands academic excellence. Thus our first priority should be academics. At the same time, we should never forget to take enough care of our own development as a good person with an excellent character and also our development as a good citizen of the nation.

To help us achieve this goal, student life in this institute will provide you many many opportunities in various forms. We will have extramural lectures by eminent personalities from all corners of the world encompassing various aspects of life which include arts, culture, science and technology, business and entrepreneurship, entertainment, social work and also politics... and remember your attendance for these lectures is compulsory!

We also will have intra-hostel and inter-hostel sports events and cultural events, departmental technical festivals, national level annual technical festival, popularly known as Shaastra, annual cultural festival Saarang and many more events. These all events will be conducted by students under able guidance of honourable Director, Dean of Student Activities and Faculty Advisers for Sports, Co-curricular and Cultural activities. So prepare yourself to conduct at least one of the modules of these events some day... of course, without compromising academics.

Finally a word about ragging. Most of you know using internet and many of you use cellphones. If you face ragging or notice ragging, you should immediately report to your hostel warden, or to me, or to any student secretary. You should note our cellular phone numbers from the telephone directory. These directories are kept in all hostels, departments and also on internet. But I appeal you not to be oversensitive as it is quite likely that the other guy may be trying honestly to introduce himself to you.

I conclude by wishing you a very pleasant and a fruitful stay at IIT Madras/

Thank you.