The Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN) celebrated Republic Day 2022 by felicitating many of its essential services staff. The institute presented campus development and excellence awards to various non-teaching staff including the ambulance driver, security supervisor, hostel caretaker, housekeeping staff, office attendant, student volunteer, counsellor, and bank staff “for providing relentless services” during the pandemic.

The institute also conferred faculty excellence awards to four faculty members for excellence in teaching, research, institution building, and outreach activities. Qualified students with excellent academic performance in semester I of 2021-22 were also felicitated through an online ceremony.

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Takhatsinh Solanki, an ambulance driver at IITGN who has been honoured with campus development award said “I did all that I could do only with the spirit of service for the Covid patients and help them reach the right medical facility at the earliest. I feel fortunate to have got this opportunity to serve the community in time of need. Today I feel humbled and honoured to receive this award from IITGN.”

Prof Umashankar Singh, associate professor (biological engineering), received the faculty excellence award for outreach activities. He has been felicitated for developing and managing the COVID-19 RT-PCR testing facility on campus to help the Gujrat government in providing timely results.

“The pandemic necessitated the application of Real-time RT-PCR, a staple for us basic science molecular biologists, in public health. I am grateful that my institute trusted me with this responsibility. Our student volunteers’ efforts were pivotal to our success. It was an honour to serve the public cause and lead a team of exemplarily dedicated volunteers in the process,” said Singh.

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“Although the recent surge in pandemic has disrupted our plans to start offline classes, it has again proven that we can stand up to any challenge with our collective resilience. Our shared vision and mission to make our students not only excellent professionals but also good citizens are reflected in the success and accomplishments of our students and alumni. Let us take forward the legacy of IITGN achieved under the leadership of Prof Sudhir Jain and be the change we want to see in the world. We need to continue to evolve to attain even greater milestones,” Prof Amit Prashant, Officiating Director, IITGN said.

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