Charak Shapath row at Madurai Medical College: Director of Medical Education says two rules were violated

Narayana Babu, Director of Medical Education in Tamil Nadu, claimed on Tuesday, May 3, that the Madurai Medical College had violated two rules in the medical oath row for fresh MBBS students.

Dean of the college, Dr A Rathinavel, was removed from his post on Sunday, May 2, because first year students were administered the Charak Shapath (oath) in Sanskrit as opposed to the conventional Hippocratic oath in English during their induction ceremony where the students were given their white coats.

Speaking to reporters after conducting an inquiry into the oath row at the Madurai Medical College, Narayana Babu said, "The Madurai Medical College violated two instructions regarding administering oath to the freshers. It violated instructions from the state health department and the Director of Medical Education (DME) to get clarification on any new/fake circular from the department and to follow a routine process of admission issued in February."

The recommendation to use Charak Shapath while administering oath to medical students by the National Medical Commission (NMC) was only a circular and not an order, the official informed, as stated in a report by IANS.

He further mentioned that on February 10, the Tamil Nadu health secretary had issued instructions to all Deans, directing them to seek clarification on all new circulars from the department, claiming that certain fraudulent NMC orders were being shared on social media.

The Parliament had also clarified that Charak Shapath cannot replace the Hippocratic oath, shared Narayana Babu. He also mentioned that based on the issue, the Madurai Medical College had failed to get clarification from the DME and health department.

After conduction of the full inquiry, appropriate action will be taken against the other medical college deans where students were allegedly administered the Charak Shapath, he added.

It may be recalled that the students' council of Madurai Medical College has taken the responsibility of first-year MBBS students taking the Charak Shapath instead of the traditional Hippocratic oath.