As a small Kashmiri village girl from the frontier district of Poonch, she trekked 5 km to and from her classes and was married even before completing her middle school.
Dr Shamim Akhtar won the Zoological Society of India’s Young Scientist Award in 2002, the Dr DS Chauhan Medal in 2007, the Madhavi Shyam Medal in 2009 and the Environmental Science Medal in 2017
Today, she’s the head of the zoology department at the Government Degree College, Rajouri, Jammu & Kashmir.
Dr Shamim Akhtar, who is a Gujjar tribal, has authored a book on her favourite subject and been published in several different journals, with some 80 papers to her credit.
She won the Zoological Society of India’s Young Scientist Award in 2002, the Dr DS Chauhan Medal in 2007, the Madhavi Shyam Medal in 2009 and the Environmental Science Medal in 2017.
Dr Akhtar is the recipient of over half a dozen fellowships and currently serves as a member of the Indian Research Communication’s advisory board and as editorial secretary at the Zoological Society of India.
Her early life, though, would not give a hint of her sparkling academic career.
For about five years, she served as a contractual teacher in different institutions but was finally inducted as faculty at her alma mater, Government Degree College, Rajouri in October 2007.
Dr Akhtar is from Parat village in Mendhar tehsil of Poonch. She did her primary studies at the popular Bagh ka School, named for the large number of Chinar trees in the school compound. It was the biggest attraction in the area.
Later, she shifted to the government school in Herni and studied up to class VIII. Before her examinations, though, she got married to a policeman. Dr Akhtar completed her education from the Higher Secondary School in Mendhar, where her husband was posted.
“I wanted to study further despite my early marriage,” she says. “I would first thank my parents, who stood behind me, and then my husband and his family, for supporting me and helping me realise my dream.”
Dr Akhtar completed her high school, graduation, postgraduation and doctorate all after marriage. “I did my postgraduation, MPhil and PhD studies in one go from Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Agra,” she remembers.
For about five years, she served as a contractual teacher in different institutions but was finally inducted as faculty at her alma mater, Government Degree College, Rajouri in October 2007. “I am trying my best –teaching my students and trying to learn myself every day,” she says with a smile.
