NEW DELHI: People across the globe are now showing greater interest in Ayurveda which has its origin in India, Union minister Shripad Yesso Naik said in Lok Sabha on Thursday after moving for passage a bill which seeks to accord the institution of national importance status to a cluster of Ayurveda institutions in Gujarat.
Talking about the achievements, the minister said that agreements have been signed with 14 nations on Ayurveda and in 58 countries, 28 information centres are working for promotion of Ayurveda. The Bill seeks to confer the status of Institution of National Importance to the Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda Jamnagar by conglomerating the cluster of Ayurveda institutes at Gujarat Ayurveda University campus in Jamnagar.
The three institutes which would be clubbed are Institute of Post Graduate Teaching and Research in Ayurveda, Gulabkunwerba Ayurveda Mahavidyalaya and Institute of Ayurveda Pharmaceutical Sciences. Participating in the discussion on the Bill, Shashi Tharoor of the Congress said that the proposed legislation was both welcome and disappointing.
Stating that a chunk of Indian households use ayurveda products, he said in Kerala it was the engine of growth. Stressing that Ayurveda was much more instinctive, he said it was the preferred source of treatment for people around the world. The Bill, he said, fails to achieve the larger objective of ayurveda and added that “I request that what is being done for Gujarat should be done for Kerala”. K Veeraswamy of the DMK said Ayurveda is the oldest medical practice and there is a need to establish a council which can monitor practitioners of Ayurveda.