Hindi medium MBBS draws no students in Chhattisgarh this year: Report
MBBS in Hindi
Raipur: In a setback for the State Government's initiative to provide medical education in Hindi, no single student has opted for the Hindi-medium MBBS course in Chhattisgarh for the academic year 2025-2026, NDTV has reported.
There are around 2,000 MBBS seats across 14 government and private medical colleges in Chhattisgarh. During the last academic year, only two students had opted to study MBBS in Hindi medium. However, the number has fallen to zero this year.
According to the experts, the biggest barrier is the dominance of English in medical terminology, along with the fear of getting behind in the global competitiveness due to Hindi-medium education.
Due to zero demand, Hindi-medium classes for this year have been scrapped, said the officials. This is the situation, even though 70 per cent of MBBS entrants come from Hindi-speaking backgrounds. Such students also hesitate to shift from the already established English curriculum.
Commenting on the matter, Director of Medical Education Dr. U.S. Paikra said that the government has fulfilled its responsibility by providing Hindi study material, further adding that the choice between Hindi and English "rests entirely with the student." He said that the State has ensured that the language should not be a barrier, NDTV has reported.
The MBBS course in Hindi medium was first introduced in Madhya Pradesh around three years ago. The initiative was launched on October 16, 2022, in Bhopal by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that even though the Madhya Pradesh Government announced incentives for students opting to pursue the MBBS course in Hindi medium, reportedly not a single student has written their MBBS examinations in Hindi, even though the Government has spent Rs 10 crore to print books in Hindi.
Confirming this, the Registrar of Madhya Pradesh Medical Science University, Jabalpur, PS Baghel, informed that even though MBBS studies in Hindi have started in all the government medical colleges of the State, not a single student has written answers in Hindi in the last three years. According to him, all the MBBS students write answers in English in the exam.
Meanwhile, commenting on the MBBS in Hindi initiative in Chhattisgarh, the former president of IMA Raipur, Dr. Rakesh Gupta, termed the decision impractical and argued that when all standard medical textbooks are in English, students prioritize English to remain internationally relevant.
The issue has also resulted in a political row as Congress media cell president Sushil Anand Shukla called the move hasty and unrealistic and questioned the practicality of teaching modern medicine in Hindi.
Also Read: Cash Reward, 50 percent Discount on Exam Fee for Students opting for MBBS in Hindi in MP
