Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh government, led by BJP, ordered all the medical colleges in the state to perform puja of Dhanvantari (God of medicine) on Dhanteras, IANS reports citing an announcement made by the state education minister Vishwas Sarang on Wednesday.
The fresh order comes days after the state government released the Hindi version of textbooks for MBBS for first-year students.
The minister said that the Dhanteras would be celebrated in full colours in all medical colleges in the state every year. He claimed that the objective behind the celebrations of Dhanvantari puja in medical colleges is to make the state healthy.
"By worshipping Bhagwan Dhanvantari, we pray for the good health of us and others. On Dhanteras (which falls on October 22 this year), all medical colleges in the state will worship God Dhanvantari by organising a programme. All doctors, students and attendants of patients will participate and pray for the good health of all," the minister told IANS.
Further, he said that people celebrate Diwali and Dussehra by performing puja on their vehicles and property. Some even purchase new property but never do puja for their health.
"This is why the government has taken this step to encourage people to perform puja of God Dhanvantari," Sarang said.
In the meantime, Congress took a dig at the minister, saying that his government "is doing all things except improve the health infrastructure. The BJP ruled Madhya Pradesh for over 17 years, and the health infrastructure continues to deteriorate. There is a shortage of doctors in every hospital, medicines are not available, but they will not talk about these issues."