Osmania University topper denied gold medal for lack of sponsor

Hyderabad, Oct 28 (IANS) A topper in M.Sc. Genetics from Osmania University has sought the intervention of Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan after she was denied gold medal on the ground that her department has no sponsor.

Vishnu Vachana Murapaka, wrote to the Governor, who is also the Chancellor of university, that it was disappointing as she is not even being given a memento or other kind of award.

Her fatherM.S.R Venkata Ramana told IANS that the university authorities informed her that she can’t even attend the convocation scheduled on October 31 as the ceremony is onlyfor PhDs and gold medallists.

Vishnu Vachana, a resident of Hyderabad, completedMaster's in Genetics from The Department of Genetics and Biotechnology,Osmania University in 2022. She is currently pursuing doctoraldegree (Ph.D.) at CSIR-CCMB (Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology).

“My dream since my childhood has been to become a scientist and bringglory to our nation. I am more interested in life sciences, specifically geneticswhich is still an emerging subject in our nation so I wanted to be a Geneticist andcontribute to the development of genetics in India,” she wrote to the Governor.

After doing bachelor's in Genetics and biotechnology in Telangana Mahila Vishwavidyalayam,Koti (Koti Women's College), Hyderabad, she attempted several competitiveexams and got the opportunity to pursue my master's in many reputed Universitieslike Banaras Hindu University, Central University of Punjab, Central Universityof Kerala. Being a resident of Telangana, she chose Osmania University to pursue M.Sc. in Genetics.

She emerged university topper in M.Sc. Genetics from 2020 - 2022 batch by securing 8.75CGPA on a scale of 10 and passed in first division with distinction.

“However, I felt very saddened after knowing that there are no goldmedals assigned to university toppers from The Department of Genetics andBiotechnology, where other departments like organic chemistry, physics, zoology,botany, microbiology, and many more do. Not just a gold medal, there is no otherkind of appreciation like a memento or at least a certificate for my achievement,” the student wrote.

When Vishnu Vachana brought this to the notice of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof.D. Ravinder, and the Registrar, Prof. Pappula Laxminarayana, they told her thatsomebody had to donate money for the gold medal andno one has donated to the Department of Genetics and Biotechnology.

“But, is itmy fault for studying in a department that hasno donors for goldmedal? My day-and-night hard work to top every semester and ultimately to topthe University has given me no appreciation or recognition,” she wrote.

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