Lucknow: Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (BBAU) will hold its 11th convocation on Aug 29, ending a gap of more than three years, with students from four academic years—2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026—set to receive degrees and medals.Defence minister Rajnath Singh will attend as chief guest, while Rajya Sabha MP Mithlesh Kumar will be the guest of honour.Officials said 8,551 students from the four sessions, along with backlog candidates, will be awarded degrees. The university will also present 508 gold medals, with 342 girl students and 166 boy students among the medal recipients. Of the total gold medals, 278 will go to SC-ST students, including 189 girls and 89 boys.The convocation had been delayed due to the absence of a permanent vice-chancellor, officials said. After former VC Prof Sanjay Singh’s term ended in 2024, Prof NMP Verma served as officiating VC, followed by Prof SK Dwivedi. A permanent VC, Prof RK Mittal, was appointed in March last year.Vice-Chancellor Prof Mittal said the degree distribution will be conducted in two phases. The first phase will run from 10 am to 1 pm at the Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee Auditorium, while the second phase will begin at 2 pm in respective departments.Controller of examinations Prof Vikram Singh Yadav said the degree recipients include 4,832 boys and 3,719 girls. During the first phase, 22 meritorious students will be honoured on the main stage, including 17 university toppers, one Doctor of Science (DSc) recipient and four RD Sonkar Award recipients.The RD Sonkar Award will be given to Gyanendra Pratap Singh (MA Sociology, 2023), Shivangi (MA History, 2024), Soni Nirmal (MA History, 2025) and Prabha Chandra (MA History, 2026), recognising top-scoring SC/ST students from the School of Ambedkar Studies in specified subjects.For the first time, BBAU will confer a DSc on Prof Devesh Kumar of the physics department.
