Govt seeks report from DMET over health varsity gold medals

THE state government has asked the director of medical education and training (DMET) to submit a detailed report on the controversy over Odisha University of Health Sciences (OUHS) instituting gold medals in the name of the vice-chancellor and his family members.

- HEMANT KUMAR ROUT @Bhubaneswar

The gold medal committee of OUHS chaired by vice-chancellor Prof Manash Ranjan Sahoo had recently taken a decision to institute eight gold medals to honour best students in different subjects.

However, three of these medals were named after the vice-chancellor himself, his wife Dr Leesa Misra, and his mother late Dr Harapriya Sahoo, raising concerns over fairness and conflict of interest. Barring a few persons of eminence, including late Prof Sanatan Rath and Prof Siddhartha Das, many gold medals were instituted in the names of lesser known professionals from the medical fraternity, sources said.