PANAJI
At a time when the ‘angels in white coats’ are lauded for their selfless sacrifices and 24x7 services in the pandemic times, an issue has surfaced from an NCERT text book for class VII and is now making rounds in the social media, across the State. The book, Social and Political Life “ II which is a textbook for class VII across India, in one of its chapters, mentions “ “In order to earn more money, these private services encourage practices that are incorrect. At times, cheaper methods, though available, are not used. For example, it is common to find doctors prescribing unnecessary medicines, injections or saline bottles when tablets or simple medicines can suffice.”
The doctors in Goa have objected to this para and are appealing the government and education department in Goa to remove the said text from the book, at least in Goa. It is noteworthy that this NCERT approved book is being taught to class VII all over India. “I strongly object to such a para in the teaching curriculum. We are meeting the Director of Education, Bhushan Sawaikar on Tuesday (August 24) at 3 pm,” stated Dr Shekhar Salkar, president NOTE and former president, IMA Goa Mapusa branch.
The Goan spoke to some of the doctors from various IMA branches in the State who shared similar views on this and showed solidarity on the issue. Dr Rewa Dubhashi, gynaecologist from Ponda says that after she found the objectionable statement about private doctors in India in NCERT text book for VII std, she is trying to put forward this issue to IMA, as this textbook is used to teach class VII children all over India. “The approach is good and some of the text is fine. But there was no need to make generalized statements regarding private medical practitioners. There are black sheep in every profession. Why target doctors?” asks Dr Dubhashi.
Dr Sandip Naik, former president, IMA Goa Bardez branch, is surprised to find the said text in a school book. “It surprises me to find the way this is presented without any context. We need facts in a text book, not imaginary fiction,” says Dr Naik, who wants a thorough inquiry on who wrote the chapter and who permitted the content, and how this objectionable content was passed without any scrutiny.
“This seems to be an old, unresolved issue. If the issue remains unresolved, it will create a trust deficit between the government (which is largely responsible for this) and professionals who do authentic practice,” claims Dr Dhanesh Volvoikar, president, Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) Goa State, vice-president, Goa State Medical Council. “I, on behalf of the pediatricians of Goa, raise an objection to this and hope government and education department deletes the controversial paragraph,” states Dr Volvoikar, an elected member of National Medical Commission and also a member of Covid 3rd wave prevention expert committee and task force who hopes that the issue will be resolved on the State level.
Dr Vinayak Buaji, current president IMA Goa opines, “There should be proper discussion on the issue, and the said paragraph should be removed. Whatever wrong has been done, needs to be corrected. The issue is quite old and not solved yet on a national level. However, I feel that at Goa level, it should be rectified. It may be a copy-paste mistake, but let’s not make it a political issue and resolve it by amicable means.”
Dr Poonam Sambhaji, secretary, IMA Bardez and former secretary of Indian Academy of Pediatrics, says that these derogatory remarks have hurt the sentiments of the doctor community. “The writer is poisoning the minds of the aspiring doctors. We will approach the local MLAs immediately and bring this to their notice. We want to know who has written the said text, and who authorized it,” feels Dr Sambhaji.
