Ankita Kumari shows the stained medal at the Muzaffarpur event. Picture by Gopi Raman

Muzaffarpur, Nov. 18: Ankita Kumari’s gold medal, awarded by Patna University six years ago, does not glitter like one.

It’s stained and discoloured, looking nothing like the bright, sparkling medal Ankita had received from then President APJ Abdul Kalam on December 30, 2005, during the university’s convocation.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar was appalled at the condition of the medal he saw while listening to Ankita’s grievances at a special janata darbar organised at Khudi Ram Bose ground, as part of his Seva Yatra, here today.

Ankita (28) had won the gold medal after topping in MSc (Botany) from Patna University in 2005.

The medal, a sign of pride and excellence, should have inspired Ankita to give her best in any field she chose. Instead, it embarrassed her, made her lose trust in her academic institution and all those people who once praised her for her achievement.

Nitish summoned officials of the higher education department but none of them were present at the meeting. He then asked the chief secretary to collect the petition submitted by Ankita and inquire into the complaint.

Ankita’s so-called gold medal stained in just six years. “This has come as a rude shock to me. I feel cheated and humiliated,” said Ankita, who teaches science at Government Chapman Girls’ High School at Muzaffarpur.

“The university officials should not play with the sentiments of students. The gold medal is made of iron. The chief minister has directed the chief secretary to check the practice of awarding iron medals in the name of gold. The medal should have at least some element of gold in it. Else, the university should stop bestowing gold medals on students,” Ankita said.

Patna University vice-chancellor Shambhu Nath Singh said an academic section committee of the university is responsible for purchasing medals from the market.

He said gold medals are usually silver pieces plated with gold. “There is no iron in the medal and the girl must be confused about the metal,” he insisted.

Singh further said that if the girl was an alumnus of Patna University, she should have approached the university authorities instead of the chief minister. “If she lodges a formal complaint, we will get the whole matter investigated and if the charges are found to be true, the guilty persons will be dismissed,” he said.

The chief minister faced a volley of questions from the petitioners who had gathered in huge numbers at his special janata darbar.

Nitish heard the complaints of all the petitioners, sometimes politely rebuking those who would go on talking without a break. He stayed at the darbar for close to five hours, listening to the grievances and collecting petitions.

Deputy inspector-general of police (Tirhut) Bachchu Singh Meena said most of the complaints were related to land disputes and police inaction. Nitish ordered lodging of an FIR against the special land acquisition officer of Muzaffarpur, Vinod Thakur, for misbehaving with a former armyman.