Patients return with medicinal plants from ayurveda centre in hospital

Sumeer Singh

Tribune News Service

Goniana, January 31

Situated at a distance of around 12 km from the heart of Bathinda city, the ayurveda centre operating inside the Civil Hospital, Goniana Mandi, is providing medicinal plants to patients apart from administering regular treatment.

The ayurveda centre is a first-of-its-kind (arguably) in the state to have procured over 1,000 saplings (in last nine months) of over a dozen varieties from different nurseries and nurtured its own nursery in the backyard of the hospital.

The medicinal properties of these saplings are effective in not only curing fever, cold, cough and stomach infection but also kidney stone, arthritis (joint pain), dengue, skin diseases, goitre, leucorrhea and even diabetes among two dozen others diseases. The idea behind handing medicinal saplings to the patients is that they subsequently plant them at their homes to avail their benefits for coming years.

The ayurvedic medical officer at the hospital said that ever since we began distributing medicinal saplings, the number of patients’ visiting the centre have increased manifold.

Harnam Singh, a diabetic patient at the centre, said, “Until three months ago I was getting two pills twice a day but after I have sowed ‘singhni’ plant and started taking its leaves in prescribed form, my intake has reduced to half pill a day now.”

The most common plants given to the patients include Kachnar (Bauhinia variegate) that is effective in curing skin diseases and goitre, Sohanjana (Moringa oleifera) is given as a supplement to the patients of arthritis, sexual weakness or as a supplement for those requiring omega-3 fats, vitamin-A and calcium.

Giloy (Tinospora Cordifolia) for dengue, Harsingaar (nigh jasmine, Nyctanthes arbor-tristis) for fever and joint pain (also work as anti-biotics), banana (pulp of trunk) is effective in curing kidney stone and singhni (a herb procured from Dharamasala in Himachal Pradesh) is quite effective for diabetic patients.

Tulsi (basil), neem (Azadirachta indica) and Aloe Vera, Bael (Aegle marmelos) for their dozens of medicinal benefits are given to almost every patient visiting the centre.

Akhilesh Singh, ayurvedic medical officer at the centre is the single man running the entire show as in the absence of a class-4 employee; he waters these plants every morning.