The Association of Indian Universities is an Apex Advisory Body on Higher Education mandated by the Ministry of Education, to determine the equivalence of foreign degrees and conduct Youth Affairs & Sports Activities in Higher Educa- tion Sector in India. At present, AIU has about 985 member universities (central, Institute of National Importance, state and private universities), including 16 overseas universities, and is serving the Higher Education Sector for the last 97 years. Many national luminaries have served this organization in different capacities, and the most prominent examples are Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, Dr. Zakir Hussain, and Dr. Syama Prasad Mukherjee who have served as Presidents of AlU. The organization has worked as an intellectual resource of the country and has contributec to the policy processes of the government and its agencies. AIU has been annually organizing the Inter-University Youth Festivals (UNIFESTS) since 1985 at the Zonal and National level where a large number of youth artiste from member universities and it's about 45000 affiliated colleges partici- pate. These festivals play a significant role in promoting in our youth, a pride of Indian culture and an awareness of youth identity. AlU is the only nodal agency in the entire country for organizing the inter-university youth programs for about 39 million youth students of the Higher Education Sector in India. Also, this is the only establishment where the above-cited youth programs can be conceptualized and implemented for the students the zonal, national, as well as international level. In continuation of our endeavors and addition to the above-mentioned youth festivals, the AIU has launched the organization of Asian University Youth Festival (AUFEST), International Youth Festival, National Women Student Parliament, National Moot Court Compettion, National Adventure/Tracking Camp and National Qawwali Competition etc. From the current session. AlU has earmarked the entire country in eight zones for the smooth conduct of Youth Affairs Programs.



Punjab Assembly established Punjabi University, Patiala under the Punjab Act No. 35 of 1961. Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, the then President of India laid foundation of Punjabi University on June 24, 1962. He preached, "The institutes of higher education share the burden of nation-building in a critically important sense. Our aim is a strong, free and democratic India where every citizen has an equal place and full opportunity of growth. In this task, a vast responsibility rests on our universities." Established on April 30, 1962 in the erstwhile princely state of Patiala with the main objective of furthering the cause of Punjabi language, art and literature, Punjabi University has since evolved into the largest University in the state. This is the second University in the world to be named after a language, the first being Hebrew University of Israel. Its vision is to establish and incorporate a University for the advancement of Punjabi studies and development of Punjabi language as a medium of instruction or otherwise for providing instruction in humanistic and scientific subjects and generally for the promotion of education and research. The University started working from its present lush green, pollution free, 316 acres campus since 1965. Initially University's jurisdiction area was fixed as the 16 km radius having only 9 colleges. In 1969, it grew into an affiliating university, with 43 colleges affiliated to it. Now the university caters to the educational needs of nine Districts of Punjab. Over the time since its inception, the University has evolved into a multi-faceted and multi-faculty educational institution for the promotion of higher education and research in Humanities, Arts, Sciences, Engineering Languages, Technology and many more. Spread over 600 acres of land, its 1500+ teachers are imparting instruction and guidance to nearly 14,000+ students in a multi-faceted, multi-pronged and multi-faculty environment comprising 70+ Teaching and Research Departments/Chairs on its Campus, 27 Regional Centre/ Neighbourhood Campuses/Constituent Colleges and 274 Colleges affiliated to it.