“Youngsters have to be the agents of change,” said G Viswanathan, Chancellor of VIT University, addressing the gathering at the Vellore campus on Tuesday.

“All the advanced countries follow management-based ownership instead of the family ownership management, which is prevalent in India. The companies owned and run by management graduates positively catalyse the country’s economic growth.

“India as an advanced country can be taken forward by people like our Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Youngsters are agents of change, thus they have to work for an advanced India. They have to play a great role in helping the nation progress on all fronts,” the Chancellor said.

Atandra Saurav Bhowal, Chairman of VITMMA (VIT Management Alumni Association), delivered the welcome address.

The chief guest, Raghavan Srinivasan, Editor, BusinessLine, said: “The national problem is meeting the aspirations of the country and it has to be resolved. VIT can adopt an entrepreneur — alongside the ongoing adopt-a-child programme — so that the college can create more entrepreneurs who can provide a lot of job opportunities. “We need more people to be engaged so that they create many jobs. More than 15,000 students of VIT can be 15,000 job providers for the nation. Alumni meetings are important so that everyone understands and knows about their level of contribution to industry.”

The meet honoured the alumni for their achievements in various fields. R Venkatesakumar, (batch of 2009-Ph.D.) Associate Professor, Department of Management Studies, Pondicherry University, was awarded in the category of Academics and Research. Uttam Vasudevan (batch of 2003, MBA), KPMG Global Services Bengaluru, received an award in the Corporate Career category. Deepa Anandakumar (batch of 1998, MBA), a self-employed finance professional in portfolio management, was awarded in the Entrepreneurship category. Vivek Muruganandam (batch of 2012, MBA), who is an entrepreneur in poultry meat business, was awarded in the Young Alumni Achievement category.