RONO HILLS, Jan 6: The Rajiv Gandhi University (RGU) today organized an interactive session with all its faculty members, including its guest faculty at the university convention hall. 
Speaking at the event, RGU Vice-Chancellor Prof Saket Kushwaha said “We cannot lose our guard now. After achieving the 2nd ranking amongst the country’s Universities, the whole world is watching us and we must do the right thing at the right time,” he said. 
Calling for seamless teamwork across departments and the administration, he called upon the faculty members to maintain integrity and discipline in one’s profession. 
Announcing that new laptops would be issued soon to each faculty member, he said that as we learn to live with the new normal and get used to working in blended modes, technology and communication tools would become our ally. He later said that the University would announce a decision on the continuation of classes and re-opening of hostels, if found to be judicious in view of the pandemic situation.
Earlier in his introductory remarks, Registrar Dr NT Rikam called upon the faculty to exhibit sincerity, dedication and commitment towards duties. The core idea of the event is to know from the faculty members their views on taking the University forward, he said.
In his address, Pro Vice-Chancellor Prof. Amitava Mitra said that since this was the first offline, face-to-face program in the last one year, it has a lot of significance. “While we have continued the University’s tradition of conducting the Convocation annually in a blended mode recently, we must also take measured steps towards opening up the University so that students can benefit from classroom teaching and interaction,” he said. 

During the interactive session chaired by the Vice-Chancellor, senior deans, directors of institutes, heads of departments as well as young faculty members shared their views on the matter of re-opening of the University in offline mode and the challenges faced due to the COVID-19 guidelines. 
Elaborating on the need for hostels to re-open in a calibrated manner, along with classes, various faculty members emphasized that health and adherence to Covid-19 SOPs was priority. While reiterating that online classes do not have the same interactive learning as real-time classroom teaching, they opined that at least for practical based disciplines, hostels may be re-opened. 
Moderator of the event, Head of Department of Mass Communication, Moji Riba underlined that while the Covid-19 pandemic had turned our lives upside down and affected us adversely, it had also highlighted the critical role that communication and interface had in dealing with moments of crisis. 
Speaking on the sidelines, coordinator of the event, Dr. David Pertin, Jt. Registrar Academic and Conference said that the large-scale participation by the faculty members in the discussions was very encouraging and showed the commitment of the RGU’s stakeholders in its growth. 
ABSCENCES, a film by Spanish filmmaker Laura Rio was screened as the opening act, which celebrates the resilience of the human spirit in the face of the pandemic. Talks by Prof. Tomo Riba, Dr. Kakoli Goswami, and musical performances by Dean of Students’ Welfare Prof Sumpam Tanjang and faculty members Dr. Tage Rupa Sora and Ashok Barman were highlights of the event, which was followed by a high tea where discussions of the proceedings were carried over informally. 

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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