Distribution of medicine in covers with Hindi words printed kicks up a row

Distribution of medicine in covers printed with Hindi letters to patients at Government Medical College Hospital in Karur has triggered a controversy.

The covers, which are being distributed to the patients, bear drug consumption details in Tamil, English and Hindi languages, in contravention of the two-language policy of Tamil and English of the State government. The covers contain details on when and how to consume medicines.

A few patients, upon noticing the Hindi letters on the covers, have been circulating them on various social media platforms.

DMK leader and former Minister for Industries, who is also the DMK IT wing secretary, T.R.B. Raaja, on his X platform posted photos of the brown medicine covers distributed in Karur Government Medical College and slammed the TVK government for violating the two-language policy of the State.

“It seems like the three-language policy is being implemented in Tamil Nadu hospitals too,” Mr. Raaja said and added that it was first distributed in Karur and then in Coimbatore hospital.

When contacted, M. Bharathi Mohan, Dean, Government Medical College, Karur, told The Hindu that orders for the medicine covers were placed on December 24 last year. They had been taken for usage only now. He had given instruction to stop issuing medicines in covers printed with Hindi letters with immediate effect.