MUMBAI:

doctors are furious over a question in the Indian National Junior

Olympiad test terming the stream of medicine as “pseudoscience”. They have demanded disciplinary action against concerned people and an apology.

The INJSO 2020 test conducted by the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE) took place earlier this month. Question 31 carrying seven marks was found to be objectionable by

who said it “mocked” homeopathy as a

. Indian National Junior Science

(INJSO) is a competitive exam open to secondary school students. “I got a rude shock when I came to know that the INJSO–2020 exam Question 31 makes a mockery of homoeopathy,” said Dr Praful Barvalia.

When TOI contacted Aniket Sule, a reader at HBCSE, he said the question was printed after “proper consideration... There are hardly any countries in the world that consider homeopathy as a medical science. Our question is about calculating scientifically if there is any meaning in the claims made by homeopathy.”

Homeopaths say the stream has lakhs of subscribers in India and is recognized by AYUSH, a part of the ministry of health.

Sule said, “There are government programmes which fund research to find the medicinal effect of cow urine. That does not mean medicinal effect of cow urine is a factual science. Or, say, there are universities which have graduation programmes in astrology. That does not mean it is meaningful science.”

A doctor said, “INJSO comes under the government of India. AYUSH is also a part of the government. Homoeopathy is an integral part of AYUSH. How can one part of the government do this?”