An increase in the price of gold has forced Mangalore University to spend Rs. 2.36 lakh from its treasury for awarding 36 endowment gold medals at its 31st convocation scheduled for Saturday.
Addressing presspersons here on Thursday, Vice-Chancellor T. C. Shivashankara Murthy said that those who instituted the gold medals had initially deposited Rs. 50,000 per medal. As gold prices went up they were asked to deposit an additional amount of Rs. 50,000 to take the total deposit to Rs. 1 lakh per medal. But all concerned did not deposit the additional amount. Gold prices went up further last year making it impossible to have the gold medals made from the interest earned on the total deposits.
Hence, the university had to spent its fund for awarding the gold medals .
A gold medal, which was a mix of silver and gold, now cost Rs. 6,580. The university was facing a shortage of Rs. 43,607 per medal that had been met now, he said.