MBBS in Hindi: Focus on improving medical education not changing medium, says FAIMA

NEW DELHI: The Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) Doctors Association called the central government’s move to translate MBBS textbooks in Hindi a policy framed with “good intent but bad planning”. The statement comes days after the Madhya Pradesh government announced its pilot project to teach MBBS students in Hindi from academic year 2022-23.

“Medical education needs a push towards research and innovation of the highest level rather than the deep dive into cultural chauvinism,” the doctors association said.

Stating that it is not a debate of Hindi vs English, FAIMA said, “The moot point here is producing world class doctors to serve our people while simultaneously ensuring that the service sector is strengthened as doctors from India are serving in different countries contributing to the prestige of our country.”

Explaining the issue of Hindi translation of MBBS textbooks, it said: “Primary among them is the standardisation of medical lexicon into Hindi and producing a set of doctors who will always face some issues while mingling with their peers abroad.”

“The medical science curriculum is vast and keeps on changing with the never ending research going on at multiple levels the world over. The question is not of Hindi vs English neither is it one cultural colonial hangover as some are portraying it to be.”

Hindi vs English debate

The Hindi versus English debate has been lingering on for many decades in the post-independence period and as a result our policy makers finally settled for the middle ground ensuring Hindi remains the official language while English continues as the associate official language.

“This was done while negating the concept of a national language as India is a nation with a multitude of languages and dialects. Hence the language conundrum was settled and this also manifested in our education policy where Hindi and English were not viewed as antagonistic to our idea as a nation,” it said in a statement.

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Though the move has been justified with the example of some European countries, India is known world over for its booming BPO sector which was possible only because of thrust on the English language, the doctors group said.

It further opined that English should be viewed as a medium of communication rather than a “colonial relic”. Saying that the move should not be taken in haste without proper standardisation and planning, it said, “harping on Hindi translation as a means of cultural emancipation is a mistake.”

FAIMA further said that there is a need to strengthen the quality of the medical education sector especially when the transition from the erstwhile MCI and NMC is still in the works. “The reckless move to push Hindi as a medium in every sphere will harm the national interest in the long run,” it added.