The Union Government’s decision to recognise the certificates of authorised medical practitioners of Ayurveda, Unani and Homeopathy under the national health services scheme — this would entitle Government employees treated by them to financial reimbursement — is only an offical admission of the fact that a sizeable section of the population entrusts itself to the care of such doctors. The reasons for the wide acceptance of Indian systems could be their comparative cheapness or the unwillingness of the allopathic doctors to serve in rural and semi-urban areas or deliberate preference for these systems over others. This no doubt has led to quackery which has done much harm to systems that are also not without a scientific basis, though neglected due to several reasons. The efficacy of Indian medicines in curing certain diseases and the systems’ basic approach to bodily aliments may not be questioned. But what needs to be done is to conduct scientific and rational research of the medicinal properties of several plants, roots and herbs on the one hand and on the other to regulate and standardise the education and practice in these systems.
