The grand alumni meet of Andhra University will be inaugurated by Vice- President M. Venkaiah Naidu at the AU Convention Centre on Beach Road here on December 9. Mr. Venkaiah Naidu is the second distinguished alumnus of AU, who has become the Vice-President of India after Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, another distinguished alumnus of AU, who went on to become the first Vice-President and later the second President of India.
A total of 81,000 alumni have already registered in the data bank and by December 9, the registrations are expected to cross one lakh, according to Minister for HRD Ganta Srinivasa Rao. The Minister told the media here on Sunday that all the 64 departments in the university have created WhatsApp groups giving details of their establishment, the number of batches which passed out of the department and details of former students, who had achieved high positions. He said that the founder of GMR Group Grandhi Mallikharjuna Rao, who has been appointed president of AU Alumni Association, was keen on making the AU into a world class university.
Mr. Srinivasa Rao said that the day would begin with an anticipated 2,000 alumni participating in the walkathon from Kali temple to YMCA on Beach Road. The meet would be flagged off by the Vice-President. Meetings would be held by the respective departments of the university. “Mr. Venkaiah Naidu and I are both alumni of AU Law College and we will participate in the meeting at the law college,” he said. The Vice-President has also consented to inaugurate the Siemens Centre of Excellence, set up with ₹300 crore at the AU College of Engineering.
