AYUSH secretary asked us to leave meeting for not knowing Hindi: Tamil Nadu doctors

Union AYUSH secretary Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha is at the centre of a controversy for allegedly asking yoga and naturopathy doctors from Tamil Nadu to leave a virtual training programme after they objected to the sessions being conducted in Hindi and not in English.

As many as 37 naturopathy doctors from Tamil Nadu participated in the event organised by the Ministry of AYUSH and Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga for Master Trainers of Yoga that saw an attendance of over 300 participants from across the country.

Three doctors, who attended the 3-day programme, told DH that only four sessions were conducted in English, while the remaining were in Hindi and alleged that their repeated requests to the organisers to hold them in English or make it bilingual fell on deaf ears.

“Our repeated requests to make the presentations in English were not heeded to. All 37 doctors from Tamil Nadu sent messages on the chatbox expressing their displeasure over sessions being conducted in Hindi. When we objected, we were told to leave the session,” the doctor told DH on the condition of anonymity.

The doctors also released a video of the programme in which Kotecha, who made a lateral entry into government service after heading the Gujarat Ayurveda University in Jamnagar, is seen telling the participants that he did not speak English well.

“I want to congratulate people who have taken the time to attend this event in the past two days. I have information that, for the past two days, there has been a problem…people can leave…I do not speak English very well. So, I will speak in Hindi,” Kotecha is seen telling the participants.

One doctor who attended the meeting said the AYUSH Secretary also threatened to act against participants who questioned why Yoga and Naturopathy were being split while they have been together till now.

The doctors also claimed that the speakers and trainers at the workshop were not “qualified enough” to impart training to professionals who have completed the five-and-a-half-year BNYS (Bachelor of Naturopathy and Yogic Sciences) course.

Another doctor claimed “non-qualified” people with no medical background took the training for qualified doctors who will be imparting lessons to patients. “We have written a formal letter to the Ministry of AYUSH flagging quality issues in training,” he said, adding that doctors from Tamil Nadu were clearly discriminated against for not “knowing Hindi.”

According to the ministry, those who received training will be deployed at various Health and Wellness Centres (HWCS) under Ayushman Bharat.