Ahmedabad: President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu, presided over the 71st convocation ceremony of Gujarat Vidyapith here today, describing the institution as a historic symbol of India's freedom struggle and nation-building ideals.

Addressing the students, the President hailed Gujarat Vidyapith's campus as the “sacred land of the ideals of our freedom struggle” and paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi. She urged students to contribute actively to national initiatives, emphasizing the importance of self-reliance and self-employment as a cultural hallmark of Gujarat that should be promoted across the country.

President Murmu called on students to support the national Swadeshi campaign and pledged to work toward making India a developed and self-reliant nation. She stressed that education should be a tool for social reconstruction, highlighting character building and moral values as core objectives, and encouraged students to apply their learning to local contexts.

The convocation ceremony was preceded by the President's visit to Dwarkadhish Temple in Dwarka, where she performed Darshan and Aarti.