TN: Dean administers ‘Charak’ oath, sacked

The dean of government-run Madurai Medical College in Tamil Nadu was removed from his post and put on a wait list on Sunday after first-year MBBS students of the college were administered Maharshi Charak Shapath in Sanskrit instead of the conventional Hippocratic Oath in English. “This is a highly reprehensible act (administering Charak oath),” said a statement from the office of the state health minister M Subramanian, who ordered the action against the college dean, Dr A Rathinavel. “As Charak oath was given instead of the Hippocratic Oath, Dr A Rathinavel, dean, Madurai Medical College, has been relieved of his post and placed on a waiting list,” the statement said. The state government has also initiated a departmental inquiry into the incident.