Goa doctors flay paragraph against doctors in NCERT textbook

Doctors in Goa are up in arms against the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) for a generalised comment against doctors in a chapter in a Social and Political Life textbook, prescribed for class VII.

The paragraph objected to by the doctors reads, “In order to earn more money, these private services encourage practices that are incorrect. At times, cheaper methods, though available, are not used. For example, is common to find doctors prescribing unnecessary medicines, injections or saline bottles when tablets or simple medicines can suffice.”

The doctors have expressed surprise that the book with such a paragraph has been prescribed all over the country and have appealed to the Goa government to remove that paragraph at least for the books in the state.

This is not the first time that the NCERT books have come under fire. Over the years, the textbooks have carried material suitable to the political ideology of the party in power.