Students 'Mistakenly' Downloaded, Took Wrong Oath, Madurai College Dean Reappointed

Health Minister Ma. Subramanian has reappointment of Rathinavel as Dean of Madurai Medical College after he was removed from service over first-year students in college taking ‘Charaka Oath’ in Sanskrit instead of the traditional Hippocratic Oath. The reinstating of the dean comes after an internal inquiry by the college found that the administration did not instruct students to take the Sanskrit oath and infact it was the students who mistakenly took the wrong oath.

The internal inquiry revealed that students had mistakenly downloaded the Sanskrit Pledge, explained the Director of Medical Education at the college Narayana Babu. Babu told News18 Tamil that students had downloaded the erroneous affidavit and the government would decide on re-employment on the basis of the inquiry report.

A three-member team comprising Medical College Chief Ravichandran and Deputy Chief Minister Santaram conducted an inquiry. During the inquiry, written reports have been received college authorities as well as Student Council.

Babu told News18 Tamil, “A report on the investigation will be sent to the government. The Sanskrit pledge was mistakenly downloaded by students and mistakenly taken on Saturday.

Action will also be taken against other colleges that have taken false oaths. Earlier, after students took the wrong oath, the college administration relieved dean of a state-run college. Based on the investigation report, the government decided on the re-appointment of the dean A. Rathinavela.

Speaking to CNN News18, before the government action, Dean Rathinavel had said the students did not check with the administration before taking the oath. “The teachers or the administration were not aware before the oathtaking. The Student Cabinet Secretary, without consulting teachers or administration, on seeing the national medical commission’s website, took the oath…”

The National Medical Commission (NMC) had recently recommended that the Hippocratic Oath be replaced with the ‘Maharishi Charak Shapath’, drawing criticism from several quarters, including the medical fraternity. Issues over imposition of Hindi has been cropping up in Tamil Nadu’s political circles, of late. On Saturday, DK leader K Veeramani led a large march in Chennai in opposition to the alleged attempts by the Centre to impose Hindi on non-Hindi speaking states.

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