Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Despite a major push by the state government to introduce MBBS course in Hindi, question papers in internal examinations at Gandhi Medical College (GMC), Bhopal, are still being distributed entirely in English. This has created hesitation among students who wish to write their answers in Hindi.

According to students, internal examination question papers are provided only in English, unlike those from Madhya Pradesh Ayurvigyan Vishwavidyalaya (Medical Science University), Jabalpur, which are bilingual. However, even in university exams, the Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) remain in English.

The Hindi medium MBBS course was launched with much fanfare on October 12, 2022, by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and then Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. It was hailed as a transformative step to make medical education more inclusive for Hindi-speaking students. The government had allocated Rs 10 crore for printing of medical textbooks in Hindi.

However, students now say the initiative has made little impact on ground. "If question papers are given in English, we hesitate to write in Hindi," said a student, speaking on condition of anonymity. "It's a pathetic situation. Even after such a big initiative, internal exams are still not student-friendly for Hindi medium learners."

They also said that teachers at GMC should be more sensitive to needs of Hindi-speaking students. “If exams were bilingual, we could gradually build comfort with English. But right now, we are forced to switch completely,” said another student.

Students at GMC continue to receive internal exam question papers only in English, which defeats the purpose of the Hindi medium programme. Even the university’s bilingual question papers offer no relief in objective-type sections, as MCQs are only in English.

For students who opted for Hindi as their medium, the absence of language support in exams is proving to be a serious disadvantage.