'Virgin' means unmarried girl: Bihar health minister on IGIMS marital status form

Patna: Following the outcry over a medical institute’s marital status declaration form, asking if the person is a "bachelor/widower/virgin", Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pandey on Thursday said 'virgin' just means unmarried and there is nothing objectionable about it.

A declaration in the form of Patna’s Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) asks to declare: "That I am bachelor/widower/virgin".

"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 told ANI.

Pandey added that the declaration has been used for 34 years the same way.

Earlier on Thursday, it was reported that the IGIMS has asked its employees to declare their virginity and number of wives in a marital status declaration form.

Out of three such declarations, one reads as: "That I am bachelor/widower/virgin." Earlier in the day, college medical superintendent Manish Mandal clarified the same and said the term 'virgin' does not have anything to do with virginity, but with marital status.