'Our officials misunderstood, Charak oath a mistake'

KOLKATA: Amid a raging controversy over first-year students of Medical College Hospital, Kolkata being administered the new `Charak' oath, Dr Raghunath Mishra, principal of the prestigious college on Tuesday said it was a mistake arising from a misunderstood communication.

The clarification came a day after first-year students of the 187-year-old medical college were asked to take the `Charak Shapath', proposed by the National Medical Council, instead of the traditional Hippocratic Oath.

"A few days back, there was a video conference with officials of NMC. During that conference there was a reference to Charak Shapath. Our staff and officials misunderstood it as an official guideline (to be compulsorily followed) and administered it on first-year students," Mishra said.

The NMC, the regulator for medical education that replaced the Medical Council of India two years back, had some weeks ago suggested that medical colleges should replace the traditional Hippocratic Oath by the Charak Oath.

On Tuesday, the Medical Service Centre, an organisation of doctors and the Democratic Students Organisation (DSO) unit of Calcutta Medical

College threatened to

launch a protest against the 'Charak" oath which students of the first year were forced to swear by.