New Delhi: With the option of writing ‘Shri Hari’ instead of Rx for medical prescriptions and promises of a separate merit list for Hindi language students, Madhya Pradesh on Sunday became the first state to launch a Hindi version of MBBS books.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who launched the books at the event, said there is no need for medical students with a Hindi medium background to “feel inferior” anymore, while Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chaouhan called the launching of medical books in Hindi “the end of the slavery of English language.”
“There is no need to develop an inferiority complex now, it is PM Modi’s government in the country. You can develop your capabilities well by studying in your own mother tongue”, Shah said at the event, adding that Modi is changing the ‘brain drain’ theory to ‘brain gain’ by promoting education in one’s mother tongue.
He added that books for management and engineering courses will also be available in Hindi soon.
CM Chouhan said a separate merit list will be drawn for those who get their education in Hindi. “Someone asked me yesterday, how would doctors write prescriptions in Hindi? I said, “write Shri Hari instead of RX, and write Crocin in Hindi.”
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“Many from Hindi medium background used to fail”
With this, Madhya Pradesh has become the first state to launch an MBBS course in Hindi language. Initially, three subjects have been selected to be studied in Hindi which include Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry. All three subjects will be taught in Hindi to first-year students in all 13 government medical colleges of the state.
Terming it a “historic day”, CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan added that studying in English language was inducing inferiority complex in students from Hindi medium or economically weaker background.
“Today is a historic day. So many students from Hindi medium background used to fail in the first semester itself, and would face difficulty in completing the degree. They would be surrounded by a feeling of inferiority complex. Some even left their education in the middle, and some reached at the verge of suicide. Today’s day is going to bring a new dawn in such students, and will end the slavery of English language”, he said.
Chouhan said that shortening the names of places like Tatya Tope Nagar to TT Nagar, Gandhi Medical College to GMC was criminal. “This (inclusion of Hindi) should have been done soon after independence itself. Such a mentality was created that nothing can happen without knowing the English language. It was portrayed that if you speak English, you will gain more respect in society, and our students also started to attempt speaking in broken English. We also disrespected our leaders – Tatya Tope Nagar was shortened to TT Nagar, Maharani Laxmi Bai became MLB and Gandhi Medical College became GMC. Isn’t that criminal?”, Chouhan said.
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