Centre hiked financial support to open Ayush colleges nationwide: Minister

New Delhi, Sep 11 (IANS) Union Minister for Ayush, Sarbananda Sonowal, said on Saturday that the Centre has increased the financial support from Rs 9 crore to Rs 70 crore to establish Ayush colleges across the nation.

Addressing a conference on 'Diverse and Fulfilling Career Paths in Ayush Systems: Education, Entrepreneurship & Employment Focus on North eastern States' in Guwahati, Sonowal said that there are only a few Ayush colleges in the Northeast and the Indian traditional medicine systems can only be popularised by making available more qualified practitioners.

"For this purpose, more Ayush teaching colleges may be required to come up in the northeastern states. Earlier, the Centrally sponsored scheme of National Ayush Mission (NAM) provided financial support of Rs 9 crore to the state governments to open new Ayush colleges. Now, the government has enhanced this amount to Rs 70 crore. States may identify the land and manpower for this purpose and avail this opportunity as per the guidelines of NAM," Sonowal said.

The minister added that the Ministry of Ayush has also accorded in-principle approval to upgrade the Government Ayurvedic College in Jalukbari, Assam, as a Centre of Excellence with the support of up to Rs 10 crore.

Sonowal said that his ministry provides Rs 5 crore to upgrade the under-graduate teaching colleges and Rs 6 crore to improve the infrastructure of post-graduate institutions.

The minister also announced to begin a 'Panchkarma' technician course affiliated to the Health Sector Skill Council-National Skill Development Corporation at the Central Ayurveda Research Institute (CARI), Guwahati, with 10 seats for 10+2 students to produce skilled manpower for 'Panchkarma' therapy in the northeastern region and enhance employment opportunities in that part of the country.

"Career opportunities in the Ayush sector for professionals of all disciplines have increased dramatically during the recent years," Sonowal said.

He added that Ayush has great potential to cater to a large number of healthcare needs of people, besides contributing to the growth and development of the country.