Govt to Setup Structured Central Regulatory Regime for AYUSH Drugs

NEW DELHI: The government is considering setting up a structured central regulatory regime for AYUSH drugs, Lok Sabha was informed today. 

"Government has considered setting up of a structured central regulatory regime for AYUSH drugs," AYUSH Minister Shripad Naik said in a written reply in Parliament. 

He said that the current proposal is to have a vertical structure for AYUSH in the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO). 

"Procedural steps for setting up of this structure have been initiated, but the timeframe cannot be specified at this stage," he said. 

The minister added that, presently, the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, and rules thereunder have exclusive provisions for AYUSH drugs, which are enforced by the state governments. 

For regulating the practice of Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) medicine, the government has established the Central Council of Indian Medicine and Central Council of Homoeopathy under the provisions of Indian Medicine Central Council Act, 1970, and the Homoeopathy Central Council Act, 1973, respectively, Naik said. 

In another reply, the minister said that there are a total of 543 colleges of AYUSH currently functional in the country of which 281 are of Ayurveda, 191 of Homoeopathy, 44 of Unani, 18 of Naturopathy and nine of Siddha medicine. 

"There are six states -- Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura and four Union Territories -- Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu and Lakshadweep, where no AYUSH college has been established so far," he said. 

The central government grants permission for the setting up of new Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani (ASU) and Homoeopathy Medical Colleges under the provisions of Section 13A of the Indian Medicine Central Council Act, 1970, and Section 12A of the Homoeopathy Central Council Act, 1973, respectively. 

"There is no Central Act and Regulatory Central Council for Yoga and Naturopathy," he said. 

Naik added that a total of 92 proposals have been received during 2015 from various institutions (private as well as government) in the various states/UTs for the opening of new Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathy medical colleges of which 63 proposals are for Ayurveda colleges and 22 for Homoeopathy.