Charak Shapath row: Madurai college's dean reinstated

Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian has announced in the state Assembly that the dean of the Madurai Medical College, Dr A Rathinavel, is reinstated to his post.

The dean of the Madurai Medical College, Dr A Rathinavel has been reinstated to his post a few days after his ouster. Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian informed this in-state Assembly on Wednesday.

He was removed from the post of dean by the state government on May 1 after first-year students took the ‘Maharshi Charaka Shapath (oath)’ instead of the Hippocratic oath during their white coat ceremony on April 30. 

The health minister said that the state was reinstating Dr Rahinavel as he had apologised for the incident, as reported by The News Minute. Also, he said that Chief Minister MK Stalin had directed the Health Department to reinstate Dr Rathinavel “considering his good work during the COVID-19 pandemic” and following his explanation on the matter.

Students and doctors' association stood by dean

While the Charaka Shapath was criticised for being regressive and casteist, students and doctors' associations came forward in the support of the dean. They said the dean was not involved in the process of administrating the oath and it was organised by students. 

They also said that they were only following a circular issued by the National Medical Commission (NMC) and the circular stating that the Hippocratic oath must be taken was issued later after the controversy has erupted.

Earlier, NMC had recommended that 'Maharshi Charak Shapath' should replace the Hippocratic Oath in a new curriculum for MBBS courses. However, the recommendation met criticism from the medical fraternity. It is still a recommendation and not a direction from the NMC.

Read more:

• Charak Shapath row in TN: Madurai MBBS students claim they followed NMC guidelines
• Calcutta Medical College principal says administering Charak Shapath was mistake