CHENNAI: The Health Department on Wednesday reinstated Madurai Medical College (MMC) Dean Dr A Rathinavel who was removed from the post after first-year MBBS students administered the ‘Maharishi Charak Shapath’ oath instead of the Hippocratic oath at an induction ceremony recently.
He will join duty from Thursday, said Health Minister Ma Subramanian. The Health Minister held a meeting with all the 36 deans of medical colleges after the oath controversy on Wednesday. Speaking to reporters, he said the dean was reinstated with the warning that in future, he should follow instructions of higher officials like Health Secretary and take decisions. He did commendable work during Covid-19 and the government considered that also. Not only Madurai Medical College, other three colleges including Ramanathapuram Medical College also had deviated from the traditional Hippocratic oath. An inquiry will be conducted on this, he said.
The Hippocratic oath stresses humanity among doctors. It says doctors should treat poor patients, and if they cannot, they should seek help from other doctors. They should not deny treatment even to someone who comes to stab them with a knife, if their life is in danger. But the Maharishi Charak Shapath oath says doctors should deny treatment to a woman who comes without her husband or any other male companion.
It says treatment should be denied to those who don’t respect kings (now PM, CM) and also to evil people.
Many countries follow the Hippocratic oath, and in India, only recently a confusion has been created, said Subramanian. The minister said it is also a way of imposing Sanskrit which is not acceptable. Sanskrit is a mother tongue for only around 24,000 people, he added.
During Zero Hour in the Assembly, members MH Jawahirullah and GK Mani spoke over the removal of Rathinavel. Mani urged that the dean be reinstated. Responding to them, the Health Minister said it was a routine process to take Hippocratic oath. Health secretary J Radhakrishnan had instructed deans of medical colleges that only Hippocratic oaths should be taken in medical colleges. He added that after an inquiry (ordered by CM), it was learnt that the incident at MMC took place without the knowledge of the dean.