Calling it an “educational revolution” aimed at restoring the pride of “our languages”, Shah had dedicated text books for MBBS first year, translated to Hindi from English and procured at a cost of Rs 10 crore.
Over the next two years, state governments in at least four other states, including neighbouring Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, also announced plans to replicate the project.
However, while some students, enthused by the idea of studying medicine in the language they are most comfortable with, picked the textbooks—mostly kept in college libraries following supplies by publishers such as J.P. Publication and Elsevier—not a single student in any of these states so far has written the MBBS examination in Hindi.
The reason for this, according to students, is the fear that studying medicine in the local language may limit their potential and career prospects, which demand English proficiency.
“I come from a small town and though I went to an English medium school, I am not very comfortable in the language,” a second-year MBBS student at Gandhi Medical College in Bhopal and a resident of Rewa, who did not wish to be named, told ThePrint.
The idea of studying medicine in Hindi seemed good initially, she said. “That’s because when we get into pursuing the course, there are two big challenges—learning medicine and a language that is not our first language. The new textbooks, which are in Hinglish—interspersed with technical words in English with grammar in Hindi—made life easy, at least during the initial few months.
“Yet, when I assessed whether I should opt for the first year examination in Hindi, there was not much confusion around the decision because I know that evidence-based medicine is universal and it is better to follow it in a universal language,” the second year-MBBS student remarked.
According to officials in MP Medical Science University, while all 18 government medical colleges under it have ensured that Hindi textbooks till 3rd year of MBBS are available for those interested, only about 10-15 percent of the students opted for the book.
Also, there are no takers for the examinations in Hindi.
“We are trying to push for it but students do not seem to be finding it useful from the career perspective,” said a senior official in the university, requesting anonymity. ThePrint reached out to Rajendra Shukla, deputy chief minister and state health minister over the phone. This report will be updated if and when a reply is received.
In other states too, the initiative has met a similar response. In Bihar, for instance, while nearly 20 percent of the first-year MBBS students last year in a few government medical colleges opted for Hindi books, none wrote the examination in the language this year.
“There has been an option for MBBS students to now study the course in Hindi… (but) the response has not been very enthusiastic though we tied up with MP-based publishers of Hindi textbooks to encourage students to pursue the programme in the language,” conceded Shashank Sinha, special secretary in the Bihar state health department.
The trajectory has not been different in Chhattisgarh, UP and Rajasthan. Yet, proponents of the initiative feel it’s an experiment worth pursuing.
“I am not a fanatic (over this project) but I feel it’s an initiative that needs to be introduced and encouraged. When countries like Japan, China, France and Germany teach medicine to their students in their mother tongue and can still be competitive globally, why can’t we do that?” asked Dr B.N. Gangadhar, outgoing chairman of the National Medical Commission (NMC) which regulates medical colleges across India.
But few others agree. “Our realities are different from those countries, where mostly one language dominates,” said Dr Shivkumar Utture, former NMC member and president of the Maharashtra Medical Council.
The initiative, he said, has not been thought through or planned well and was started without holding wide consultations to assess ground realities. “Due to these factors,” Utture said, “the response is poor among MBBS students”.
Breaking barriers or creating them?
The argument given in favour of the initiative is that it will empower students from small towns and rural areas. “The idea is to ease challenges that new MBBS inductees face when they join medical colleges. Being armed with a textbook in their first language is likely to make the navigation easier. I faced a similar problem when I went into medical college decades ago because I was not well versed in English,” Gangadhar told ThePrint.
But those studying medicine now have different opinions. In a globalised world, which wants to connect in a common language and exchange ideas on a daily basis, these thoughts are outdated, they say. “The Hindisation of MBBS curriculum in the current circumstances is a regressive step and it is only a political stunt aimed to appease certain groups,” Dr Amit Banjara, secretary of the Junior Doctors’ Association, Chhattisgarh, said.
According to Dr Harjit Singh Bhatti, a geriatrician based in Delhi, who completed his MBBS from Government Medical College Jabalpur in 2010, pursuing the course in Hindi may limit the students for life.
“It may actually end up creating barriers for doctors rather than opening doors for them because science constantly evolves and as practitioners of modern medicine, they have to be comfortable in a language that is acceptable and usable worldwide, irrespective of our background,” Bhatti said.
‘Reaching patients in a language they understand’
The advocates for MBBS in Hindi also argue that those studying in Hindi, or in other regional languages once they are available, is likely to help medical practitioners communicate better with their patients.
The statistics show that nearly 60 percent MBBS pass-outs prefer to work in the states from which they completed their course, pointed out the outgoing NMC chairman.
“Against this background, it makes sense that they study the textbooks in a language which can also be the language of their communication with the patients,” Gangadhar insisted.
Many public health specialists, however, had a differing opinion. “I am for education in one’s mother tongue but I fully disagree about the same in national or state languages. Hindi, for example, is an urban language, which is seldom spoken or understood in most rural areas of what we call Hindi heartland,” said Raman V.R., a public health expert from Chhattisgarh.
The lingua franca of Hindi heartland are actually Diaavadhi, Bhojpuri, Brij, Khari boli, Magahi, Maithili, Garhwali, Kumaoni and Pahadi, among others, according to the public health specialist.
Further, without having a change in cultural orientation around languages, it is difficult to prepare useful textbooks or reading material in non-English Indian languages, as the broader language structures and vocabulary are heavily influenced by Sanskrit in most local languages, experts also point out.
“As a person who tried to prepare resources and training material in Malayalam and Hindi, I have seen these challenges and I have been struggling myself at times, when it comes to preparing communicative material,” said Raman.
He added that unless there is a change in the larger approach across educational, administrative and societal levels about languages and communication, a reform limited to one sector can only lead to a backlash and it’s better to orient doctors about the cultural and behavioral aspects of treating the rural population.
Those specialising in public health also said that while using regional languages to make higher education accessible is beneficial in itself, it needs to be backed up by research journals in that language.
For instance, there are quality scientific journals in languages such as French, German, Swedish, Chinese, Russian journals and Japanese.
As medicine is an evolving science and doctors need to constantly upgrade their knowledge, the current push may lead to outdated doctors for rural areas, said Dr Prabir K.C., an independent public health consultant from Kolkata.
The NMC chairman, meanwhile, maintained that the progress of the Hindi push in MBBS course and the students’ response to it can be assessed only 5-10 years down the line.
“We can then decide whether the intended purpose of the initiative is being fulfilled or not,” he said.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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