Row Erupts After Medical Body Changes Logo, Includes Hindu Deity (image: X/Thomas Issac)

A controversy erupted across the nation, especially from the opposition and the doctor’s community, after the national medical body replaced its logo with a Hindu Ayurveda deity and the name ‘Bharat’. The National Medical Commission (NMC) of India launched its brand-new logo recently and replaced the national emblem of India with the Hindu deity Dhanwanthari and ‘India’ with ‘Bharat’.

NMC is the national regulatory body of medical education and medical professionals. The recent change erupted speculations about the BJPs (Bharatiya Janata Party) alleged plans to remove the word ‘India’ from the Constitution in the upcoming special session of the parliament. The new logo is already being used in the official website of NMC, while its X (formerly Twitter) handle remains the previous one.

While the previous logo had the national emblem of India, featuring four Asiatic lions standing back-to-back, with ‘Satyameva Jayate’ written below, the new logo replaced these with Dhanwanthari and refers the body as the ‘National Medical Commission Bharat’. The new one also features the tricolor resembling the national flag of the country.

Lord Dhanwanthari is the Hindu god of Ayurveda, medicine, and healing. He is also known as the father of Ayurveda and is considered an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Many doctors, medical professionals, activists, and politicians took to their X and expressed their disagreement towards the change in logo. According to Dr Sharad Kumar Agarwal, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) National President, the logo replacement was “unnecessary”.

“The inclusion of Dhanwanthari was unnecessary and should have been avoided. They should focus on the quality of medical education. They are not a political body and should not have political aspirations or try to please their political bosses”, the New Indian Express quoted Dr Agarwal.

The Kerala state division of the IMA send to the chairman of National Medical Commission and said that the move was “not acceptable” to the modern medical fraternity. They condemned the decision and demanded immediate action pointing it will “harm the scientific and secular nature of the Commission”.

The new logo of NMC is unacceptable pic.twitter.com/014mDV8gWO

— Jayakrishnan Menon (@jayanishere) November 30, 2023