New Delhi, May 1 - The University Grants Commission (UGC) has cleared the establishment of the Srimanta Sankardeva Chair in Assam's Tezpur University to familiarize students with the values of secularism and non-violence expounded by the saint-scholar, it was announced here Tuesday.

"It is a matter of immense pleasure that the UGC came forward and issued a no objection certificate for the establishment of the Srimanta Sankardeva Chair," Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Paban Singh Ghatowar said.

"Sankardeva was the greatest religious leader and social thinker of Assam who transformed the socio-cultural fabric of the entire Brahmaputra Valley with his liberal and democratic ideas in the spheres of religion and society," he said.