DigitEye India Fact Checkers
A claim is going viral stating that the National Medical Commission (NMC) recently changed its official logo consisting a logo alongwith one featuring a Hindu deity, Dhanwantari. The logo shows the deity in the middle making a clear difference and the captions says that religious symbols are being used on government emblems.
The latest change also replaced the word ‘India’ in the logo to ‘Bharat’.
#UpholdSecularism pic.twitter.com/kw4L9urpgP
— esSENSE GLOBAL (@esSENSEGlobal) November 30, 2023
It’s being shared here and here.
FACT CHECK
Digiteye India checked for the official logo of the NMC on their website and found that the logo that was last changed in December 2022 and the change was from a black silhoutte to coloured one. Secondly, it does feature Danwantari as shown and the NMC has claimed on Dec. 6, 2023 that the change has been approved in 2022.
With Dhanvantri considered to be the god of Ayurveda and medicine, officials from the NMC said it was an appropriate addition to the logo for a medical body. “If the logo for doctors can be Caduceus — the staff surrounded by two serpents — that is entrenched in Greek mythology, why can’t we use symbols from our own mythology?” see NEW vs OLD logos here:
News reports quoted IMA officials who said the logo of the National Medical Commission (NMC), with a colourful image of physician god Dhanvantri in the centre, has been decided in 2022. The NMC maintained that the image of Dhanvantri had always been a part of its logo, albeit as a dark silhouette and the new logo shows it in colour besides replacing the word ‘India’ with ‘Bharat’.
Dr Sharad Agarwal, president of IMA, who opposed the move, said: “Doctors take an oath to treat everyone irrespective of their caste, class, or religion. Why then should the logo of an institute that governs training of doctors have any religious connection?”
Hence, the claim is true that the logo with deity Dhanvantri has been used in the logo of NMC.
Claim: National Medical Commission recently changed its official logo featuring a Hindu deity, Dhanvantri.
Conclusion: TRUE. The logo has been changed last year and now made into colour with Bharat replacing India.
Rating: True — 
