The five-day-long XVI All India Inter Agricultural Universities Sports and Games Meet 2015-16, commenced at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University today. 56 varsities from all over the country are participating in the meet.

About 2,000 athletes representing the teams took out a march past, with K. Ramasamy, the Vice-Chancellor of the host university, the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, lighting the torch that was placed at the centre of stadium.

The Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Chennai, K. Ramalingam declared the meet open, after hoisting the national flag. Dr. S. Thilagar, Vice-Chancellor of Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS), and Dr. M. Ravi, I.G. of Police, Chennai, were among those who participated in the inaugural function.

In his address, Ravi said that victory should not lead to ego but responsibility, and defeat should not lead to depression, but determination to win. Ramalingam said that his entire life changed after the cotton boll worm attack that wiped out the entire cotton crop in his farm in 1977. It was only then that he passed the ICAR exam and went on to enter the Indian Revenue Service, he said.