Coimbatore Medical College Hospital changes medicine covers after instructions in Hindi spark controversy

The Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) administration on Tuesday replaced the brown paper covers used to dispense medicines to patients with fresh ones after instructions printed in Hindi on the former triggered a row, with many criticising it as contradicting the two-language policy of Tamil Nadu.

DMK leader and former Minister for Industries T.R.B. Raja was among those who criticised the inclusion of Hindi instructions on the covers.

“(It) seems like the three-language policy is being implemented in Tamil Nadu hospitals too! First Karur... Now the same situation in Coimbatore as well”, he posted on X, along with a photo of a pharmacy cover purportedly issued by CMCH, with instruction in Tamil, English and Hindi. He had posted earlier that similar covers with instructions in three languages were being used in Karur.

A senior official from CMCH said the covers with instructions in three languages were printed and supplied by Chinthamani Cooperative Society and no one had flagged any issue with the instruction in Hindi.

“We replaced these covers with new ones on Tuesday evening,” said the official, adding that such covers had been in use for a long time.

A source from the pharmacy section of the hospital claimed that similar covers with instructions in three languages had been in use during the previous regime as well. Meanwhile, pharmacists were instructed not to use the covers with instructions in three languages and use the new ones, containing Tamil and English.

According to CMCH authorities, the hospital handles around 3,000 to 4,500 outpatients a day, and a large number of migrant workers working in the city and nearby areas seek treatment at the hospital.