Girls leave medicine to study farm sciences, win gold medals

Two female students who left MBBS seats to pursue a course in agricultural sciences have won the most number of gold medals at the 55th convocation of the University of Agricultural Sciences here.

G Monica, from the College of Agriculture in Mandya, won 10 gold medals in BSc (Agriculture). Asha Kiran, of Gandhi Krishi Vignana Kendra, Bengaluru, bagged seven gold medals. She also received the gold medal certificate given by donors. The daughter of Govindaraju, a schoolteacher, and Ashwathamma, Monica had topped the Tumakuru district in SSLC exams in 2014. She secured an MBBS seat but ditched it to study agricultural sciences.

“Despite so much research in agriculture, farmers continued to suffer. They can’t access government schemes and do not know many programmes. My priority is to bring awareness among them,” she said.

Monica stressed the need to change people’s mindset towards agriculture. “Many made fun of me for not studying medicine. But I felt that instead of studying a course in demand, I should be able create demand for a course I study,” she added.

Asha, the daughter of Krishnappa, a resident of RT Nagar, said winning a gold medal was a dream come true. She had a chance to study medicine in Chamarajanagar but she chose agriculture. “My parents supported me,” she said.

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