Standing Committee Report Summary

Review of National Ayush Mission

 The Standing Committee on Health and Family (iv) streamlining processes through technology.
Welfare (Chair: Mr. Bhubaneswar Kalita)
 Research and Development: The Mission
submitted its report on the ‘Review of National
includes key components such as building Ayush
Ayush Mission’, on February 9, 2024. The
Health and Wellness Centres, co-locating Ayush
National Ayush Mission was launched in 2014 to
facilities with existing health centres and setting up
promote accessibility to ayurveda, yoga, unani,
Ayush hospitals. It also includes areas that states
sidhha, and homeopathy (AYUSH). The Mission
can choose to flexibly spend funds on. These
focuses on promoting and improving research,
include telemedicine, sports medicine through
education, quality of drugs, and infrastructure
Ayush, and capacity building and training. The
related to Ayush. Key observations and
Committee noted that promotion of research and
recommendations of the Committee include:
development should be included as a component of
 Fund utilisation: The Committee observed that the Mission, as well as an area on which states can
utilisation of funds under the scheme was low. flexibly allocate funds.
For example, in 2022-23, 85% of the funds from
 The Committee also recommended that patient
the revised stage were utilised. The Committee
data on diagnosis, treatment and outcomes from
recommended the Ministry of Ayush to work
local health centres can be utilised to conduct large
towards full utilisation of funds.
scale epidemiological studies. To support this, it
 Implementation of the Mission: The Committee recommended measures such as upgrading
noted that more than 69% of integrated Ayush infrastructure, training Ayush practioners in
Hospitals approved under the Mission are still research skills, and standardising data collection.
under construction. Moreover, only 65% of Ayush
 Quality of Ayush drugs: The Committee
Health and Wellness centres have been established.
highlighted concerns related to high metal content
The Committee recommended extending the
in Ayush drugs. It recommended the Ministry to:
Mission by five years beyond 2024-25. It also
(i) conduct post-marketing surveillance of Ayush
recommended that Sowa-Rigpa, a traditional
medicines to track their safety and efficacy, (ii)
system of medicine prevalent in the Himalayan
harmonise standards of Ayush medicines with
regions, should be included in the Mission.
international norms, and (iii) develop systems to
 Delays and Challenges: The Committee noted report adverse events related to Ayush medicines.
that delays in implementation of the Mission are
 Promotion of Ayush: The Committee observed
primarily caused due to: (i) late allocation of funds,
various measures taken by China, South Korea,
(ii) overlapping functions between entities, and
and Africa to promote traditional medicine. The
(iii) delays in submitting utilisation certificates. In
Committee recommended integrating modern and
order to address these challenges, the Committee
traditional medicine by including Ayush systems
recommended reducing the number of budget line
in medical education and school curricula. The
items in state action plans and clearly
Committee also recommended pursuing private
differentiating roles between different entities.
insurance companies to cover Ayush treatments
The Committee also recommended: (i) training
and foreign governments to recognise Ayush
existing staff in managing projects effectively, (ii)
systems. It also recommended the government to
creating specific action plans for Ayush Health and
regulate consultation rates related to Ayush.
Wellness Centres, (iii) providing financial
incentives to states for better implementation, and
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Rutvik Upadhyaya
February 22, 2024
rutvik@prsindia.org
PRS Legislative Research  Institute for Policy Research Studies 
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