A day after the Tamil Nadu government transferred a government college dean in Madurai following first year medical college students took the Maharshi Charak Shapath in Sanskrit instead of the conventional Hippocratic Oath, the students union of the Madurai Medical College on Monday held a press conference to take the blame for replacing the oath.
The students’ union president, Jothis Kumaravel, said it was their decision to follow Maharishi Charak Shapath since it was recommended by the National Medical Commission (NMC) as part of its guidelines released on March 31. Kumaravel said since they were following the competency-based medical education of the NMC since 2019, they had decided to follow the NMC’s guidelines on the oath taking, too.
This incident happened during the college’s induction ceremony held on Saturday for students to don their white courts for the first time and became a major conspiracy in the state with the health minister Ma Subramanian on Sunday transferring dean A Rathinavel and putting him on a waitlist.
Kumaravel said they had downloaded the Charak Shapath from the internet, translated it from Sanskrit to English in a hurry just a day or two before the event and they had neither informed the college management about the mix up nor had they shown the contents for approval from higher ups.
“There has been no explicit order (from the state government) — making Hippocratic Oath mandatory for the freshers,” Kumaravel said. But he clarified that after the controversy they have received instructions from the Director of Medical education, Narayana Babu instructing them to stick to the Hippocratic Oath. These instructions have been sent to other medical colleges across the state as well.
{{/usCountry}}“There has been no explicit order (from the state government) — making Hippocratic Oath mandatory for the freshers,” Kumaravel said. But he clarified that after the controversy they have received instructions from the Director of Medical education, Narayana Babu instructing them to stick to the Hippocratic Oath. These instructions have been sent to other medical colleges across the state as well.
{{/usCountry}}Several experts have criticised that the Charak Shapath is regressive and that the BJP-led central government was attempting to saffronise medical education.
The student leaders, who flanked Kumaravel, said they didn’t foresee it could turn into a controversy and admitted that this wasn’t done due to any pressure and political leanings. The state is also conducting a departmental enquiry under Babu into the incident.
State finance minister PTR Palanivel Thiaga Rajan and commercial taxes minister P Moorthy were on the dais during the college’s induction ceremony held on Saturday who had immediately objected to Charak Shapath.
Following this incident, reports have emerged that other institutions in the state such as Ramanathapuram medical college too have been taking the Charak Shapath but it wasn’t known. Rajan on Monday tweeted, “Apparently this has been going on in other colleges over the past few months, but no one else saw fit to question the changeover, it seems.”
Rajan also shared a copy of the Charak oath which was read out in the college to which he had objected due to its contents. A text in the oath said, “I (especially a male doctor) shall treat a woman only in the presence of her husband or a near relative.”