National Medical Commission said God of Medicine Dhanvantri has been in its logo for over a year. The image has now been coloured.
Published Dec 01, 2023 | 6:33 PM ⚊ Updated Dec 01, 2023 | 6:33 PM
NMC logo.
An apparent change in the National Medical Commission’s (NMC) logo has been at the centre of debate, raising concerns about the encroachment of religious symbolism into government entities.
However, the NMC on Friday, 1 December, clarified that their supposed “new logo”, featuring the God of Medicine Dhanvantri from the Hindu pantheon, was not a replacement for the India Emblem, the Ashoka Chakra, as alleged by some on social media.
In a statement to South First, Yogesh Malik of NMC said: “We never had the India emblem in our logo. We didn’t have a logo one-and-a-half years ago. It was only around a year back that the NMC, after taking suggestions, came up with the logo.”
“The Dhanwantri logo was black and white for over a year. We realised we need to colour it. So that is only the change that has happened. I don’t understand the criticism,” he added.
On Thursday, several doctors and researchers took to X/Twitter to allege that the NMC had replaced the Ashoka Emblem in its logo with an image of Dhanwantari and this move had been seen as an affront to the secular principles enshrined in the Constitution and had raised questions about the appropriateness of religious symbolism in government entities.
The National Medical Commision of India, the apex "scientific" body that regulates medical education and medical professionals has silently dropped the Ashoka State Emblem from it's logo, replacing it with an image of the Hindu God Dhanvantri, the embodiment of pseudoscientific… https://t.co/u5KpWpeYc7 pic.twitter.com/7kxgj5kEHs
— TheLiverDoc (@theliverdr) November 30, 2023
However, NMC said they had decided on a logo with the God of Medicine, with the image in black and white, quite some time back. And, in a recent meeting, they had decided to replace the image with a coloured one for “clarity”.
NMC’s statement to South First explained, “Earlier, MCI had a logo with the Greek goddess symbol. About a year-and-a-half ago, NMC decided on a logo with Dhanvantri as a representative of the God of Medicine in our country. The image of the Dhanwanthari was in black and white. In the recent meeting of NMC. The colour image replacement was adopted. The image is now clearer.”
Meanwhile, reacting to the ongoing row, the Kerala Chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) wrote to the NMC chairman on the supposed change in its logo.
The letter said, “This is to bring to your notice that the recent change in the National Medical Commission logo is not acceptable to the modern medical fraternity. The new logo gives a wrong message and will harm the scientific and secular nature of the Commission. Members of the profession have already raised their voices against this unacceptable move.
“We at the IMA Kerala state branch strongly condemn the decision and demand immediate action in this regard,” the letter stated.
