Vice President C. P. Radhakrishnan, who attended as Chief Guest at the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) convocation, addressed the university's 39th Convocation Ceremony in New Delhi on April 7, 2026. The Vice President conferred degrees, diplomas and certificates on over 3.24 lakh learners, recognising IGNOU's scale as one of the world's largest open universities. Delhi Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu attended as the Guest of Honour and joined the Vice President in conferring PhD degrees and Gold Medals on meritorious students. Praising IGNOU as a "pillar of higher education" and a powerful instrument of equitable access, the Vice President highlighted its critical role in advancing the goals of the National Education Policy 2020, including democratisation, multidisciplinarity and lifelong learning. During the event, he released the IGNOU degree certificates on DigiLocker under the National Academic Depository (NAD) framework, enabling instant, paperless access to academic records for learners across India. He also launched the IGNOU Alumni Portal, which already has more than 5 million registrations, and inaugurated 17 Swayam Prabha Studios at IGNOU Regional Centres spread across the country. The studios are expected to substantially expand the production and broadcast of high-quality educational content for the Swayam Prabha 24x7 educational TV channels, especially benefiting learners in remote and underserved regions and supporting India's digital education push.