Tirupati, Mar 4 (IANS): Vice President Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday said there was a time when India was known as the Vishwa Guru (world guru) and urged students to regain the past glory.

"We have had an illustrious past. There was a time when India was known as Vishwa Guru. We have to regain that past glory and make India a knowledge and education hub once again," said Naidu.

He made these remarks at the sixth Institute Day celebrations at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) - Tirupati.

He stressed that there is a need to increase the employability of engineering students. This observation strikes a chord in the southern state as thousands of engineering graduates are jobless and many engineering colleges shut.

"More attention should be given to building a stronger academia-industry connection," Naidu noted.

According to the Vice President, youth can play a transformative role when they are properly skilled, motivated and given the right opportunities.

"Technological advancement is a key decisive factor in the development architecture of a country in today's world. We should ensure that science and technology improves the quality of our people's lives," Naidu observed.

Later, he inaugurated a multispecialty hospital in the temple town and highlighted that quality healthcare is the right of every individual.

"There is an urgent need to bridge the rural - urban divide in healthcare so that people in rural areas also get access to modern and state-of-the-art healthcare in their own villages," he said.

The Vice President flew into the temple town from Chennai along with his wife Usha.

He was welcomed by Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister K. Narayana Swamy and others at Tirupati airport.