CM reviews performance of Ayush Dept
By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 5 Jan: Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami held a review meeting of the AYUSH and AYUSH Education Departments at the Secretariat here today. In the meeting he directed the officials to work with an effective action plan to make Uttarakhand a major destination in the field of AYUSH and wellness. Instructions were given to bring a new yoga policy soon to develop Uttarakhand as the best yoga destination in the world. He said that special efforts should be made to promote Panchakarma. The production of herbs should be further promoted in the state. For this, proper arrangements for collection and marketing should be made in coordination with the AYUSH Department, Horticulture and Forest Corporation.
Pointing out the need to pay attention to the availability of AYUSH treatment to common citizens, the Chief Minister said that along with private participation in the field of AYUSH, attention should also be paid to the establishment of quality AYUSH hospitals. He added that to promote the field of AYUSH, arrangements be made to create a proper platform for marketing the products of herbal farmers. He also directed that in order to make people as well as children aware about Ayurveda based programmes be conducted for school students in all the schools of the state.
The CM also directed the department to expedite implementation of the new AYUSH policy.
Dhami directed the officials to focus more on the establishment of wellness centres, certification of AYUSH services and arrangement for training of AYUSH doctors and pharmacists through renowned AYUSH experts. This will help in connecting AYUSH medicine with the public, he observed.
Information was shared in the meeting that AYUSH policy has been implemented in the state. In this, provisions related to wellness, health, AYUSH production, AYUSH education and research and cultivation of medicinal plants have been made. The policy includes promotion of production of high quality Ayurvedic herbs, mandatory adherence to international standards of Good Agriculture Practices (GAP), use of latest drone based technology, establishment of cold storage on PPP mode, regulation of vendors of medicinal plants. The policy also provides for establishment of an online platform to bring together buyers (farmers, local suppliers) and buyers (drug manufacturers), ‘Assured Buy-Back’ scheme for medicinal plants in Uttarakhand in collaboration with leading manufacturers and reputed marketing agencies in the state. Clear guidelines have been included for branding of major medicinal plants grown.
In the field of AYUSH, through the State Tourism Policy, 2023, up to 50 percent capital assistance is being provided to wellness resorts, Ayurveda/Yoga/Naturopathy resorts and 5 percent financial assistance to wellness centres, Ayurveda/Yoga/Naturopathy resorts to be established in Category B and Category C areas. Arrangements have also been made to provide additional capital assistance of 100 per cent. To promote AYUSH education, a provision has been made to provide a lump sum incentive amount of up to Rs 15 lakh to the AYUSH colleges which meet the standards set by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).
In the meeting, Deputy Chairman Infrastructure Monitoring Committee Vishwas Dawar, Additional Chief Secretary Radha Raturi, Secretary R Meenakshi Sundaram, Secretary AYUSH Dr Pankaj Kumar Pandey and officials of AYUSH department were present.
