524 Ayurvedic dispensaries in Punjab sans medicines for four years, patients suffer
Manav Mander
Ludhiana, July 6
All 524 Ayurvedic dispensaries across the state have been functioning without medicines since March 2019. The wait for the medicines keeps on getting longer at these dispensaries.
Row over rate list
- In March 2019, the Directorate of Ayurveda had issued notice to 11 firms and sought their rate list for the procurement of medicines under centrally-sponsored schemes
- The notice was challenged by Kerala Ayurvedic Co-operative Society Ltd and it said the directorate should have issued a public notice or invited tenders instead
- The notice issued by the Directorate of Ayurveda was kept in abeyance by Punjab and Haryana High Court which was finally lifted in the last hearing in March
In 2019, a notice issued by the Directorate of Ayurveda regarding the purchase of medicines was kept in abeyance by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which was finally lifted in March this year. But after two months, these dispensaries are running without medicines.
Dr Ravi Doomra, Joint Director (Punjab), Ayurveda and Unani, said the stay was lifted in the first week of March this year and they had started the procedure for procuring the medicines. The tender has been floated and technical bid opened. “Once the procedure is completed, the dispensaries will be supplied medicines. We also want the medicines to reach the dispensaries as soon as possible as they are in a difficult situation due to no medicine supply for quite a long time now,” he said.
Medicines are given free of cost to patients. The number of patients visiting these dispensaries has dropped considerably over these years.
Suchha Singh, who always believed in taking Ayurvedic medicines, had to finally switched to allopathic medicines.
“I always use to visit the Ayurvedic dispensary near my house for cold, cough and fever. For the past few years, they have stopped dispensing medicines. Now the doctor suggests home remedies. Left with no other option, I have now started visiting a primary health centre near my home,” said he.
Another patient said his family believed in Ayurveda as his father was also a vaid. “Ayurvedic dispensaries have not received the supply of medicines since long. We can’t wait if someone is sick, so I have started going to a nearby private hospital,” he said.
Ludhiana district, Ayurveda and Unani Officer, Dr Manjit Kaur, said it was the doctors who are arranging medicines all these years. “Some are paying from their own pockets so that the patients do not suffer while some are taking help from NGOs. We are hopeful that very soon medicines will be sent to these dispensaries,” she said.
Despite repeated attempts, Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh could not be contacted.
