Practitioners of Ayurveda echo the sentiments of the Indian Medical Association on the damage the Bill can cause in the health sector. The Bill lacks clarity on what it aims to achieve, say the professionals in the Indian system of health care.
General secretary of the Ayurveda Hospital Management Association Baby Krishnan says he do not agree with the bridge course as said in the Bill. The basic tenet of Ayurveda will be lost with such a course. The integrated diploma in indigenous medicine, which was brought in long before establishing Ayurveda colleges, was considered a kind of bridge course. However, it was abandoned as it did little to promote the traditional medicine system.
Ayurveda Medical Association of India president G. Vinod Kumar says there is much to be worried about in this form of the Bill. The Bill in the present form will be a major set back in constituting a body to guide professionals that has limited seats for professionals and subject experts.
Research Director at the Amrita School of Ayurveda P. Ram Manohar said the bridge course was not pragmatic. “It is a myopic view of seeing and resolving issues and will make a mockery of traditional medicine. What is being sought is to provide access to medical care in rural areas. But there are other ways of resolving it. It is not a good strategy to make traditional medical practitioners in rural areas take to modern medicine in such a manner,” he says.
