The Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) administration replaced the brown paper covers used to dispense medicines with new ones after instructions printed in Hindi on the former triggered a row, with critics saying the move contradicted Tamil Nadu’s two‑language policy.
DMK leader and former Minister for Industries T.R.B. Raja posted a photo of a pharmacy cover allegedly issued by CMCH on X, noting that the cover contained instructions in Tamil, English and Hindi. He remarked that the “three‑language policy” seemed to be implemented in Tamil Nadu hospitals, citing a similar situation in Karur.
A senior CMCH official said the covers with three‑language instructions were printed and supplied by the Chinthamani Cooperative Society and that no one had flagged the Hindi instruction as problematic. The official added that the covers had been in use for a long time and that they had been replaced on Tuesday evening. A source from the hospital’s pharmacy said that similar covers had been used during the previous regime and that pharmacists had been instructed not to use the old covers, but to use the new ones containing only Tamil and English.
CMCH handles roughly 3,000 to 4,500 outpatients a day, and a large number of migrant workers in Coimbatore and nearby areas seek treatment at the hospital.
