Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government on Sunday opened a new war front against the Centre snubbing its idea of Sanskrit Charak oath instead of traditional Hippocratic Oath for medical students.
The government removed the dean of Madurai Medical College a day after the college's new medical students were administered the Maharshi Charak Shapath, in Sanskrit.
Soon after the oath taking, a controversy triggered over the ceremony, which was attended by the state's two ministers-- Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan and Commercial Taxes Minister P Moorthy.
Already Tamil Nadu has got on the wrong side of the Centre after slamming the Centre's suggestion of using Hindi as the national lingua franca.
As the visuals of students taking Sankrist oath had done rounds on social media, the government removed Dean A Rathinavel.
He was reportedly placed on waiting list for future posting, The Indian Express reported.
As well as initiating a probe, Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian asked all medical institutions in the state to follow the traditional Hippocratic Oath.
India's new medical regulatory body, the National Medical Commission (NMC), which replaced the Medical Council of India, recently suggested 'Charak Shapath' instead of the traditional Hippocratic Oath. Which many viewed as part of the Centre's Hindutva agenda.
A modified version of the Sanskrit vow was made available for all colleges.
Faced with criticism, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said Charak Shapath was optional and would not be forced on medical students.
Tamil Nadu always resisted any move being perceived as imposition of Hindi, Sanskrit over Tamil.
Meanwhile, Dean Rathinavel reportedly put the onus of oath on a student body official for suggesting the Charak oath.
The Charak oath is from 'Charaka Samhita', one of the crucial Ayurveda texts.
The Hippocratic Oath comes from Greek medical texts, named after Hippocrates II, a Greek physician of the classical period who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine, and the oath is used by physicians across the world to swear by.