Madurai Medical College Row: Student Council Accepts Choosing Charak Shapath, Demands Reinstatement Of Dean

Madurai Medical College Council also said that the college authorities were not involved in the oath-taking of the freshers. 

Representational image of Madurai Medical College ( Image Source : Facebook/@maduraimedicalcollege )

Chennai: The Government Madurai Medical College (GMMC) council on Monday said that it decided to take Charak Shapath (Oath) in Sanskrit and college was not responsible for their act. The students of the council also demanded the reinstatement of Rathinavel, former Dean of GMMC, who was removed from the post after the controversy broke out. 

A day after the Dean was removed from his post since the students administered Charak Shapath (oath) in Sanskrit instead of Hippocratic oath in English, Jothis Kumaravel, the president of the student council, said: "It was the decision of the student council of the Madurai Medical College to conduct a Maharshi Charak Shapath instead of Hippocratic Oath as it was recommended by the National Medical Commission."

The college authorities were not involved in the oath-taking of the freshers, he said. 

The student leader also added that the students administered the Maharashi Charak Shapath oath since there was no order from state government banning the Charak Shapath. 

On March 31, National Medical Commission in a circular suggested to replace Hippocratic Oath with Charak Shapath. However, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pawar in a reply to Rajya Sabha said, there has been no proposal to replace Hippocratic Oath with Charak Shapath.

The Charak Shapath is an oath detailing the ancient Ayurveda-based medical practices in Sanskrit. Meanwhile, Hippocratic oath in English which has its origins from Greek medical texts talks about several principles of medical ethics and non-maleficence.

(With IANS inputs)