In a first, and what can be called as a shot in the arm for the Ministry, the Government’s Navratna, National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has agreed to set up Ayush centres in five cities —Kayamkulum in Alappuzha district of Kerala, Koldam (Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh), Tapovan (Rishikesh in Uttarakhand), Vindhyanchal and Farakka in West Bengal.

“The nitty-gritty is being finalized,” a senior official from the Ministry said adding that talks are on with other PSUs too in this direction.

He said that efforts are on to persuade the PSUs to set up the Ayush Centres in the remote areas where medical facilities are almost nil or inaccessible. “There has been demand for the traditional systems of medicines as these are playing vital role in providing health care to large section of population, especially in developing countries like India.

“This is because of the affordability of people to buy Ayurvedic medicines that are of low cost, compared to that of Allopathy,” the official added.

He attributed growing demand for alternative medicines also to the increasing awareness among the public regarding the efficacy of Ayush, availability of scientifically validated ayush medicines like anti-diabetes drug BGR-34 (developed by CSIR) and Ayush Ministry’s emphasis on good manufacturing practices in the sector.

The Ministry is also pushing for programmes such as training of trainers for orientation of ASHAs/ANMs to the potential of AYUSH with respect to general wellness and preventive health care including prevention of common ailments like diabetes and popularizing common ayurveda and yoga remedies/practices for the management of such illnesses.

Last year, the Centre had approved proposals for setting up of 100 Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy (AYUSH) hospitals across the country. During the last three years, the Government had also approved posting of 4000 AYUSH doctors in primary health centres across the country.

In fact, the National Health Policy, 2017 has also envisaged the integration of the Ayush system in the NHP and contribution in larger aspect including the Non- Communicable Diseases, the official added.