Bihar medical institute removes 'virgin' from declaration form, issues new one

Patna: The Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) in Patna on Thursday removed the word virgin from its marital status declaration form following the controversy and issued a new one.

A declaration in the form earlier asked its employees to declare: "That I am bachelor/widower/virgin".

The institute has issued a new form, replacing the word 'virgin' with 'unmarried'. The declaration now reads: 'That I am married/a widow/unmarried'.

The content of the previous form had triggered a controversy on Wednesday, following which Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pandey justified the use of word 'virgin' in the form.

"The word that is used is 'virgin'. It means unmarried girl, maiden. I don't think these words are objectionable. But still this issue is being raised. I had a word with the officials of the IGIMS. They said that this is the format of AIIMS and since 1983, it is being used in every organisation of the country," Pandey said on Thursday.