Health Minister Dhan Singh Rawat, Inspired by Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand  also set to start medical education in Hindi. The state intends to introduce the curriculum in Hindi, alongside English, from the next academic session, in all subjects. “The objective of the New [National] Education Plan (NEP) 2020 is to promote Hindi and regional languages. Uttarakhand is a state where 70% of students get their education, up to the intermediate (12th) level, in Hindi. Having books for vocational education like MBBS and Engineering in Hindi will help such students,” says Mr. Rawat in an interview with the Hindu.

Medical Education in Hindi Medium: A big change

Uttarakhand currently has four government medical colleges in Dehradun, Srinagar (Pauri), Haldwani and Almora. The state has a total of 525 MBBS seats, 85% of which are reserved for Uttarakhand students and 15% for non-state students.

In three private medical colleges in the state, each with 150 places, 50% of the places are reserved for state students and 50% for all India.

To prepare the MBBS syllabus in Hindi, the Department of Medical Education has formed a four-member expert committee, who will design the project after completing the syllabus that is being implemented in medical colleges in Madhya Pradesh. Dr. C.M.S. Rawat, Principal, College Medical College, Srinagar (Pauri) was the chairman of the committee which included Dr. AK. Singh, Professor at Haldwani Medical College, and Dr. Hari Shankar Pandey as members. Dr. Daulat Singh of Government Doon Medical College is the secretary of the committee. Explaining how the preparatory work for the Hindi event will begin, Dr. C.M.S. Rawat said the committee will study the syllabus prepared by the MP, who is currently teaching three medical subjects in Hindi.

“We will see how they did the translation, and we will translate the fitness training system. The aim is to give students an opportunity to study both Hindi and English from the next academic session, in all subjects,” he added.