NIFT convocation muddle leaves students in soup

The National Institute of Fashion Technology at Panchkula, Haryana, found itself in midst of controversy over the convocation date confusion

The confusion over the date of the convocation ceremony has led to anguish and financial loss to the students of National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) at Panchkula, Haryana. Many students across India, including Mumbai, who had booked flight tickets, were in for a shock when they learned from their faculties that the event had been postponed.

In the second week of October the students of Masters of Design Space and Masters of Fashion Management who had passed out from the first batch of 2021-2023 had booked flight tickets after learning that the event will be held on November 2, from their faculty on their college Whatsapp group. A week after the students learned about their convocation ceremony, they were informed that the event had been postponed. Though the students were later asked by their teachers to not book the tickets for the journey, many had already done so.

No option left

"We were forced to cancel our air tickets at short notice. Our parents who were to attend the convocation also had to endure the hardship and financial loss due to this unexpected change. Evidently the fault lies with the management for this inconvenience," said a passed-out student, who requested anonymity.

Milestone event

"It is a milestone event in our life and the parents would not want to miss the event. I had booked air tickets for my parents and myself soon after I learnt about the convocation date. As prices of air tickets were increasing steeply due to the festive season, when I cancelled the tickets, the airlines deducted about Rs 12,000 from the fare."

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Chief Guest unavailable

A student said that the real reason for the abrupt postponement of the convocation ceremony is due to the unavailability of the chief guest.

Request went unheard

"We made efforts to contact the authorities concerned through emails and direct messages, to hold the convocation ceremony on the originally planned date of November 2 or to receive compensation for cancelling our tickets and travel plans. Regrettably, we have not received any response and the issue remains unresolved," said the student. Despite the fiasco the students are still eager to attend the convocation ceremony, whenever it happens on a future date.

The other side

Dr Amandeep Singh Grover, Director NIFT, Haryana, said, "We have not made any official announcement, there might be some miscommunication. The institute has not made any confirmation of dates to the students. You will agree that the convocation ceremony is a very auspicious function for any institute and it requires a lot of planning and preparatory work including confirmation of dates from our head office and even the chief guest."

Students contest official claim

A student revealed that an email from NIFT officials conveying the convocation date as November 2 was received by the students of Masters in Fashion Management. Another student said, "A conversation regarding the convocation (screenshot with this paper) was made on the course WhatsApp group on October 9, by a faculty member. The faculty revealed in the chat that the convocation will be held on a day from October 30 to November 3. When asked for a specific date the faculty had mentioned November 2. On October 17, another faculty informed the students about the cancellation of the event and requested them not to book airline tickets, but by then several students had already done the booking."