Lt Governor inaugurates Government Ayurvedic Medical College, Akhnoor

JAMMU : Augmenting the preventive and curative health care facilities for the people of J&K, Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha today inaugurated Government Ayurvedic Medical College, Akhnoor and dedicated it to the public.

“With the new state-of-the-art Ayurveda facility, we have achieved a new milestone in the healthcare sector of Jammu and Kashmir”, the Lt Governor observed.

The first Ayurvedic College in J&K with 63 seats will help the students to gain the learning of the Ayurveda system. In addition, the 60-bedded hospital would prove to be a boon for the people seeking Ayurvedic treatment, the Lt Governor noted.

This Ayurvedic Medical College will also have a great impact on the social, economic, and health system of this area, he added.

“The most important responsibility of the administration is to protect the health of its citizens, and we are trying our best to develop the best infrastructure, besides making policy interventions needed for the good health of the people of J&K”, the Lt Governor remarked.

Highlighting the need for comprehensive healthcare, including oral health, and addressing the issue of unemployment raised by trained Dental Surgeons, the Lt Governor reiterated that the government is going to provide financial assistance to 400 dental surgeons and 800 paramedics to facilitate them in starting their own clinics through a specially tailored self-employment scheme under the ‘Mission Youth’ programme.

Terming Ayurveda as an important pillar of our medical system, the Lt Governor said that the timeless knowledge gathered by our ancient practitioners and propagated across centuries has to be developed in Jammu and Kashmir into a large ecosystem of alternative medicine through modern infrastructure. Various disciplines of Ayurveda have to be made accessible to the people, because only a healthy society can contribute to the development, he added.

Outlining the reforms taken by the Government to develop Ayurveda system in the UT, the Lt Governor stated that the Ministry of AYUSH has approved the up-gradation of 571 Indian Systems of Medicine dispensaries in the Union Territory of J&K in a phased manner by 2023-24. “Including 73 AYUSH Health and Wellness Centres inaugurated in March this year and 21 AYUSH Health and Wellness Centres inaugurated in September last year, a total of 94 AYUSH health and wellness centres have been started in Phase-I”, the Lt Governor noted.

The Lt Governor said that all these centres are running smoothly and from yoga instructors to every type of infrastructure, all have been made available there. In the second phase, the Directorate of Indian Systems of Medicine, J&K is working on 100 more AYUSH health and wellness centres. These centres would prove to be a milestone in creating a robust health infrastructure across J&K in the future, he added.

The Lt Governor noted that the role of Ayurvedic College and AYUSH Centres has become imperative in maintaining the health of the people because there are so many diseases in the world for which it is difficult to find treatment and preventive care in one method alone to keep the body healthy. The aim of this Ayurvedic College and other wellness centres is not only to take care of overall health but also to ensure that people do not fall ill and stay healthy, he added.

In the last few years, under the guidance of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, the public health sector in Jammu and Kashmir has got a new direction, new momentum for extending healthcare facilities to all the people. It was his vision, under which the Indian System of Medicine was brought into the mainstream through the National Health Policy enabling people to avoid diseases through ‘Self-Care’ and providing an alternate option of treatment to the needy people, the Lt Governor added.

Elucidating on the two main objectives behind the decision of central government to develop 12,500 Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness centres across the country under the National AYUSH Mission for providing low cost general health cover to maximum people and extending primary health care facilities while spreading awareness among people living in remote areas, the Lt Governor said that there is also a third aspect of it, that is for the first time a policy was worked out on the preventive care of the public.

J&K stands out as a leader in the entire country in terms of arrangement of medicines and establishment of Covid Care Centres in Panchayats to provide ample capacity of oxygen beds to the people, said the Lt Governor.

On the occasion, the Lt Governor saluted the indomitable spirit of all the doctors and paramedics of J&K with which they worked together combating Corona, have been conducting extensive vaccination campaign, and how they have set the best example in the whole country.

“It is because of the determined efforts of doctors, paramedics, officers and other healthcare workers working day and night in the field that the Covid management and vaccination model of Jammu and Kashmir is being discussed all over the country”, observed the Lt Governor.

Throwing light on the evolution of Ayurvedic system over a period of time, the Lt Governor said that the philosophy behind Ayurvedic medicines is an important part of our culture and we should respect all the medical systems in the world, as all the health professionals whether associated with traditional or modern medicine are devoted wholeheartedly to human service, looking after our health.

The Lt Governor also spoke on the worldwide acceptance of the Ayurvedic methods and systems of medicine. The principle of Ayurveda is based on science, and doctors in most of the developed countries are recommending adoption of the lifestyle mentioned in Ayurveda. If European countries can establish Ayurvedic colleges and universities, why we cannot take pride in our ancient wisdom and traditional systems of medicines, said the Lt Governor.

The Lt Governor said that in November last year, the World Health Organization had also announced the opening of an institute viz. ‘Global Center for Traditional Medicine in India’ in our country. Our country’s model of healthcare cannot get bigger support than this, he added.

The threat of corona virus has not been completely averted. Therefore, prevention is the only way and I request you all to follow the Covid Appropriate Behaviour, concluded the Lt Governor.

It was informed that a well-experienced faculty in 14 Ayurvedic specialties is there in this new Ayurveda Teaching Institute for imparting quality teaching, Clinical education and research based on the practices and principles of Ayurveda, with intake capacity of 63 Students for BAMS course through NEET Examination.

60 Bedded Associated Teaching Hospital; well-equipped laboratories and departmental museums; facilities of Panchkarma and Kshar-sutra; Computer enabled interactive classroom with multi-media projectors and screens has been established for the better teaching-learning experience.

The new facility will cater to the patients in need of Out-Patient and In-Patient services in clinical specialities, First-aid, Emergency care with permissible drugs.

Sh. Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to the Lt Governor; Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary; Sh. Atal Dulloo, Additional Chief Secretary, Health and Medical Education; Dr. Raghav Langer, Divisional Commissioner, Jammu; Sh. Anshul Garg, Deputy Commissioner Jammu; Dr. Shashi Sudhan Sharma, Principal & Dean GMC Jammu; Dr. Mohan Singh, Director, Indian Systems of Medicine, (AYUSH), J&K, and other senior officers and members of the medical fraternity attended the inaugural ceremony.

Sh. Bharat Bhushan, Chairman DDC, Jammu; Sh. Jugal Kishore Sharma, Member Parliament, and Sh. Sham Lal Sharma, former Minister were also present on the occasion.