Siliguri, Nov. 22: The 278-member Association of Indian Universities (AIU) will approach FICCI and CII to seek greater participation of the industry in jointly eradicating social backwardness.

The decision was taken at the four-day meet of the AIU here on the North Bengal University campus.

The body?s 79th annual general meeting, which ended yesterday, was based on the theme ?Engagement of the universities with society?.

That industry could do more to uplift the backward sections of society was an important point discussed at the meet, host university vice-chancellor Pijush Kanti Saha said.

?Keeping this in mind, it has been decided that our central leadership will approach industry majors to join hands in active participation for social improvement,? he added.

One area where modalities has to be jointly worked out was the increased and better utilisation of skilled human resources. ?A significant number of qualified persons were either unemployed or under-employed, and the captains of industry and the universities should work out solutions to this,? said Saha.

Vice-chancellors attending the meet came down heavily on the University Grants Commission for not sending a single representative to the major four-day interactive event, despite being invited.

?The UGC is entitled to provide grants to the universities for development and growth activities, the amount of which depends on the place and the university. But the pittance they provide to us is not enough even to maintain the status quo of the institution. Development and growth is a far cry,? said one of them.

The UGC?s non-participation was seen as the only blight on an otherwise robust event.

Senior leaders of the association described the meet as ?highly successful? given the huge turnout of members and invitees, which included the secretary-general of the Association of Commonwealth Universities and representatives of the French and Australian embassies.

The meet was also a platform for some Bengal ministers to score brownie points. Visiting vice-chancellors were all praise for them, or at least their words.

Ministers Surjya Kanta Mishra, Satyasadhan Chakraborty, Asok Bhattacharya and Dinesh Dakua attended the meet at different times.

?They are all so well-versed with the needs of the people that if our national leaders were to be like them, the face of higher education in the nation would indeed have been different,? said AIU president K. Mohandas.

The new president and vice-president of AIU were elected at the meet.

The association?s standing committee will be finalised by February. ?The standing committee will play a major role in formulating the fee structure that private universities should adopt,? the NBU vice-chancellor said.