Varsity authorities say taking back the medal would look bad on their part, mull over 'compensating' the topper.
A former Delhi University (DU) postgraduate student has been fighting for the gold medal that she was supposed to get but was instead given to a 4th rank holder in her batch. Even after making several oral and written requests to the authorities in the last one year, the university has done nothing to rectify the "mistake", as they admitted on their own accord.
Pratichi Majumdar, who completed her MA in Sociology from DU in 2014, scored 999 out of 1,600 marks, highest in her batch. According to rules, she should have won the 'Kunda Datar Gold Medal', awarded to the student scoring the highest marks in MA, Sociology. Instead of her, however, the medal was awarded to another student who scored 977 out of 1,600 marks and ranked 4th in the batch. The medal was awarded at a convocation ceremony held in 2015, a year after the results were announced.
Majumdar has written letters to the Vice-Chancellor, Dean of Examinations and Head of Sociology Department in the last one year but hasn't received any response, so far. Finally, she served a legal notice to the university authorities, following which they told her that they cannot take the gold medal back from Abbas as "it would look bad on their part."
Talking about the issue, Dean of Examinations, Vinay Gupta, told DNA: "The merit list was prepared before the results of all Sociology students were declared. Results of some students were delayed and that is why Majumdar's name did not feature in the list." He further admitted: "Ideally, her name should have been there. She deserves the gold medal but now we cannot take it back from the other student. So, we will have to figure out a way to compensate Majumdar." The university authorities are also planning to set up a committee to look into the matter.
Majumdar, however, does not want to settle for any "compensation" and wants the medal that is rightfully hers. "I have worked really hard. I do not want anything less than my certificate and my gold medal. It matters a lot. If I go on to apply for a job or further research, this is something that would give me an added advantage," she said. Majumdar is currently pursuing Ph.D. from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).
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