Hyderabad: Ponnala Lakshmaiah, an alumnus of Osmania University and former minister, has established a gold medal through the Ponnala Foundation for students excelling in the Department of Library and Information Science at Osmania University. He discussed this initiative with the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Kumar Molugaram and handed over a cheque for Rs 5.50 lakh, adhering to OU regulations.
The annual gold medal will be awarded using the interest accrued from this deposit. Prof. Kumar expressed his gratitude to Lakshmaiah and appreciated his decision to encourage students as an alumnus of the university. The Vice-Chancellor announced that the gold medal would be awarded starting from the upcoming convocation.
Discussions were also held regarding various developmental initiatives at OU. Lakshmaiah assured his support for the modernization of the library through the Ponnala Foundation. He shared his personal connection with libraries, reminiscing about his early days as a librarian in his village, Kilashapur, where he worked for a monthly salary of Re 1 during his fifth grade.
He expressed his desire to give back to the university that significantly shaped his life journey.
Earlier, during the closing ceremony of National Library Week at the Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Memorial Library, OU, Lakshmaiah visited the book exhibition organized for the event.
