PM inaugurates first AIIMS like Ayurved Institute, says ignoring history, heritage will be fatal

Underlining that overlooking its history and heritage can be fatal for a country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday expressed his government's commitment to achieve integration of Ayurveda, Yoga and other Ayush systems in the public health care system. Speaking after dedicating the first ever All India Institute of Ayurveda to the nation here, the Prime Minister called upon the practitioners of Ayush to develop their own trust in the system and work for its expansion with full devotion.

''Ayush integrated into the public health care system will not be a decision just confined to files,but will be a practical reality,'' he said, and underlined that ''Ayush is not just a system of medicine but it brings in its ambit social, public and environmental health.'' The Prime Minister also called for standardisation of the Ayush education and modern packaging of its medicines. He also called upon Ayush practitioners to go for research to develop medicines with immediate results but without side effects, keeping in view the demands of the times. He said under the foreign rule, there had been attempts to ridicule and lessen the importance of Indian system of knowledge and achievements of its rishis and scientists, and after Independence too not much attention was paid to reclaim the country’s rich heritage.

However, Mr Modi said that for the last three years his government had been taking steps to reverse the trend. He said his government’s main focus was on preventive healthcare and providing affordable and easily accessible health care to the poor, and Ayush can take a lead in this drive. The first ever AIIA has been set up under the ministry of AYUSH along the lines of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). The Institute was expected to bring synergy between the traditional wisdom of Ayurveda and modern diagnostic tools and technology.