IMA objects to NMC logo depicting Hindu deity, demands religion-neutral emblem
New Delhi (PTI): The Indian Medical Association on Sunday raised its objection to the National Medical Commission logo depicting the Hindu deity Dhanwantari and urged it to adopt a religion-neutral emblem.
According to Hindu mythology, Dhanwantari is the physician of the gods.
The National Medical Commission (NMC) on Thursday drew ire from the Indian Medical Association's (IMA) Kerala chapter, which said the recent change in the logo was not acceptable. It also drew ire for replacing "India" with "Bharat" in the logo.
The commission, however, stated that the logo has been in use for over a year.
The IMA said on Sunday, "The NMC has adopted a new logo with religious depiction contained therein. The new logo of the NMC is in contradiction with our fundamental values as doctors."
"It is not in conformity with the oath and duty of doctors, which is not towards any particular religion. Such a logo is also inconsistent with the dignity and decorum of an institution such as the NMC," it further said.
The logo of any national institution ought to capture the aspirations of all citizens in an equal manner and, by remaining neutral in all respects thereby, eliminating any possibility of any part/section of society feeling aggrieved, the IMA said.
The association also called on the NMC to take corrective steps to adopt a logo that does not contradict the oath and the duty of doctors "towards all our citizens with complete neutrality, especially in shunning any attempt to connect and/or identify the institution such as NMC with any particular religion".
"The restoration of the logo hitherto and/or an adoption of any religion-neutral logo is the need of the hour, requiring appropriate decision to be taken by the concerned authorities expeditiously," the IMA said.
Dr Yogender Malik, member of the Ethics and Medical Registration Board and head of the NMC's media division, in an earlier response to the criticism, had said, "We never had the 'India' emblem as our logo. We didn't have a logo before. It was only around a year back when the NMC, after taking suggestions, came up with the logo."
"The Dhanwantri logo was black and white for over a year and we realised we needed colour it. So that is only the change that has happened. I don't understand the criticism," he had said.
Malik had further clarified that "India" being replaced with "Bharat" was the only change that was made.
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Mamata Banerjee walks out of NITI Aayog meeting, allowed only 5 minutes to speak
New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee walked out of NITI Aayog's 9th Governing Council meeting on Saturday, July 27, in New Delhi. According to Banerjee, she was allowed to speak for only five minutes, which led to her departure from the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Banerjee expressed her frustration to reporters, stating, "I said the central government should not discriminate against state governments. I wanted to speak but was allowed only five minutes. People before me spoke for 10-20 minutes. I was the only one from the opposition who was participating but still, I was not allowed to speak. This is insulting."
The meeting aims to foster participative governance and collaboration between the Centre and state governments, focusing on making India a developed nation by 2047. The council includes all state chief ministers, lieutenant governors of Union Territories, and several Union ministers, with Prime Minister Modi serving as the chairman.
Key themes discussed include access, quality, and efficiency of drinking water, electricity, health care, schooling, and land and property digitization. Recommendations from the 3rd National Conference of chief secretaries held in December last year were also reviewed.
NITI Aayog in 2023 was entrusted with preparing a vision document to help India become a USD 30 trillion economy by 2047. This document must consolidate 10 sectoral thematic visions like economic growth, social progress, environmental sustainability, and good governance into a combined vision for "Viksit Bharat @2047."
