Kannur University will bestow its maiden ‘Acharya’ awards on writer T. Padmanabhan, filmmaker and actor Sreenivasan, sculptor Kanayi Kunhiraman, activist M.A. Rahman, and environmental activist Kallen Pokkudan.
The awards will be presented by Governor and Chancellor P. Sathasivam at a function on the university campus at Mangattuparamba here at 11 a.m. on March 15, Vice Chancellor M.K. Abdul Khader announced at a press conference here on Monday. He said that the awards carried citations.
Dr. Khader said that the awards were instituted to honour eminent personalities. The five eminent people who made great contributions in their respective fields were selected by a Syndicate subcommittee.
The university would seriously consider the proposal to present Acharya awards every year, he said adding that the awards were an informal way of honouring persons of eminence than the DLitt degree presentation which was more formal.
Dr. Khader said that the university would organise its first ever convocation programme for holders of postgraduate and PhD degrees in the middle of this year. The Governor is expected to be the chief guest at that function as well, he said.
Three eminent personalities had been awarded DLitt degrees last year.
The Vice Chancellor said that such programmes were being held as part of strengthening academic activities of the university which had now become a full-fledged institution. It had been 19 years since the university was established.
The number of affiliated colleges had risen from 18 colleges at the time of its inception to 136 colleges now, he said.
The central library of the university on the Thavakkara campus is expected to be ready by April end. A student facility centre is also being developed on the campus, Dr. Khader said.
