CHENNAI: The Central government has been meting out step-motherly treatment towards Siddha medicine research with regard to fund allocation, the Madras High Court on Thursday observed.
The bench of judges N Kirubakaran and VM Velumani was hearing the bail plea of Siddha doctor Thiruthanikachalam, who was detained under the Goondas Act for claiming to have found a cure for Covid-19.
“While about Rs 3,000 crore was allocated for Ayurveda research, only Rs 437 crore was provided for Siddha research in the past 10 years. This cannot be tolerated,” the bench observed and directed the Assistant Solicitor General of India G Karthikeyan to state the reason for such low allocation of funds within a week. The judges made the observations after the Ayush Ministry filed a report on the fund allocation for research.
Bail plea hearing
The High Court was hearing the bail plea of Siddha doctor Thiruthanikachalam, who was detained under the Goondas Act for claiming to have found a cure for Covid-19.