‘VIRGIN’ CHANGED TO ‘UNMARRIED’ IN FORM

PATNA: The Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) in Patna amended its marital declaration form on Thursday, replacing the word ‘virgin’ with ‘unmarried’ to prevent any further controversies in this regard.

Until now, new recruits of the superspecialty medical institute in the state capital were required to declare if they were bachelors, widowers or virgins.

IGIMS medical superintendent Dr Manish Mandal said institute director Dr N R Biswas held a meeting on Thursday morning before directing that the word ‘virgin’ on the marital declaration form be immediately replaced with ‘unmarried’. Dr Biswas had just returned after a four-day leave of absence.

Earlier, Bihar health minister Mangal Pandey had ended up redefining the very meaning of virginity in his attempts to justify the awkward phrasing of the question in the form.

Following a public furore on Wednesday, the minister told news channels that there was nothing wrong with using the word virgin because it simply meant “kanya” or “kunwari”, which means an unmarried girl.

Sources said the chief minister’s office had also taken cognizance of the issue, and asked for a copy of the form. It had even asked why the question was introduced in the first place. In its response, the management of the institute had clarified that it was in adherence to the central civil services rules followed by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi.

The declaration form had been in existence since the inception of the institute in 1983. Some officials blamed the faux pas on poor translation.