IIM-Vizag gold medals real and cost Rs 1.45 lakh each – Times of India

Containing 30 grams of gold, including wastage, each medal presented by the IIM-Vizag costs nearly Rs 1.45 lakh. IIM-Vizag is perhaps the only institution in Telugu states currently using the pure yellow metal for medals. Enquiries made by ToI revealed that most of the universities and institutions in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana present only gold-plated medals to meritorious students, each medal containing up to three to four grams of gold, the rest being copper, silver or brass.

The IIM-Vizag gave away 13 gold medals on October 30 for the toppers of PGP 2018-20 and PGP 2019-21 and the executive management programmes. The medals included “The Vani Row memorial gold medal” for securing first rank among girls.

The 13 gold medals, with 92% purity or 22-carat, have cost the institute a total of Rs 18.93 lakh. Even though the fourth and the fifth annual convocations of the institute were virtually held in July, due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic the IIM-V invited the toppers to the campus to receive the medals personally on Saturday.

Incidentally, the majority of the gold medals being offered by the universities and other academic institutions in Andhra Pradesh or Telangana have been instituted by benevolent donors to further the cause of education and research. But of the 13 gold medals presented by IIM-Vizag on Saturday, the expenditure of only two gold medals (one each for an academic year) is met from the revolving fund established by a donor. The cost of the remaining medals is borne by the institute itself.

Dr BRL Row, an eminent scientist in the field of chemistry and native of Visakhapatnam, donated Rs 2 crore for the construction of a building in the permanent campus of IIM-V. Dr Row also instituted a gold medal with Rs 22 lakh, which will be presented every year to a girl student topping the MBA programme. Dr Row made the donations in the memory of his late daughter Vani Row, who was an alumnus of IIM-Ahmedabad.

Speaking to ToI about the pure gold medals offered to the toppers, IIM-V director Prof M Chandrasekhar said that it is not a direct equivalent to the efforts put in by the students. “But their performance is pure, as is the gold in the medal. IIM-V has decided to offer pure gold medals to make the students intrinsically motivated as they will become the brand ambassadors of the institute once they earn their degrees. We are procuring the customised gold medals from Bangalore,” said Prof Chandrasekhar.

Students, who received the gold medals, were surprised when they learnt that they are indeed of gold and not gold-plated. Prerna Baid, who received two gold medals from the institute, said that it was an overwhelming feeling to bag gold medals from IIM-Vizag that too made of pure gold. “I came to know that only a very few institutions in the world are using pure yellow metal for the medals. In fact, it was surprising to know that these medals contain pure gold,” said Prerna.