All districts to have ayurveda hospitals: PM

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 17

India got its first national-level Ayurveda institute with Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicating the All India Institute of Ayurveda to the country here today and promising an ayurveda hospital in every district.

Modelled along the lines of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), the new ayurveda institute will provide patient care and promote research in integrated medicine.

Speaking on the inauguration, the PM lamented the loss of ancient Indian wisdom and said the government was making all out efforts to promote the AYUSH systems of medicine. He also appealed to ayurveda practitioners to develop pain killers with zero side effects and said ayurveda and yoga can together help sportspersons and Armed Forces personnel a lot.

“Every sportsperson hires a physiotherapist to avoid the side effects of pain killers. Ayurveda should create capacities to develop world-class ayurveda physiotherapists,” said the PM, adding that herbal plantations with medicinal value would soon emerge as a new area for employment for Indians.

Sharing Dhanvantari Jayanti wishes with people on the occasion of the National Ayurveda Day, the PM said no nation could ever progress by squandering and ignoring its heritage. “Nations that abandon their heritage lose their identity,” he noted.

He said when India was servile, its knowledge, yoga and ayurveda traditions were undermined and belittled.

“Attempts were made to reduce the faith that Indians had in traditional medicine systems. In the last three years, this situation has changed to quite an extent and people’s trust in traditional systems is being restored. This pride in heritage is reflected by the way people gather to celebrate Ayurveda Day or Yoga Day,” he said, asking the AYUSH Ministry to work for certification of practitioners at every level of ayurveda education rather than upon the completion of 5 years.

He said ayurveda was not just a medical practice but encompassed public health and environmental health as well. “That is why the government has laid stress on integrating ayurveda, yoga and other AYUSH systems into the public healthcare system. We are working towards establishing an ayurveda hospital in every district. More than 65 AYUSH hospitals have been developed in the past three years,” he said, adding that the government had allowed 100 per cent FDI in health to attract private players. He also urged private entities to invest in AYUSH research under corporate social responsibility.

‘Health revolution’ 

• Addressing a gathering after dedicating the country's first All India Institute of Ayurveda to the nation, PM Narendra Modi pitched for affordable and accessible healthcare for the poor on ‘Ayurveda Day’ on Tuesday
• Noting that the world was heading ‘back to nature and wellness’, Modi described ayurveda as India’s strength and urged those working in the sector to revive it
• He also asked experts from the field to find medicines which can, like allopathy, give immediate relief to people but without side-effects. He said time was ripe for an ‘atmosphere of ayurveda’