Less than 50% rural population used AYUSH system: MoS in LS

Not even half of the rural population in the country is availing itself of the benefits of the ambitious AYUSH system of healthcare, involving ayurveda, yoga, naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and homoeopathy.

This was stated by Minister of State for AYUSH Prataprao Jadhav in reply to a question by Congress MP Charanjit Singh Channi during the Question Hour of the ongoing Lok Sabha session today.

Launched in November 2014, the number of actual beneficiaries under the system was only 46% in rural and 53% in urban areas, according to the national survey on AYUSH conducted by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) from July 2022 till June 2023, the minister stated.

The question held importance in the context that AYUSH, which was based on traditional medicinal systems, failed to invoke widespread application by general public. In the reply, it was stated that “presently, there is no plan to conduct research or surveys to understand the reasons behind the low utilisation of AYUSH”.

***State textile exports rise

The state has witnessed a 3% growth in export of textiles said the Minister of State for Textiles, Pabitra Margherita, in reply to a question by MP Raghav Chadha in the Rajya Sabha.

The exports grew from Rs 12,043.2 crores in the fiscal 2022-2023 to Rs 12,421.3 crores in the next financial year. The MP had sought details about the “plummeting textile exports from Punjab and the challenges faced by the local industry”.