The Centre has sought the willingness of the TS government to host the proposed World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Centre for Traditional Medicine here on Wednesday.
The Ministry of Ayush — Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, Yoga, Naturopathy, Sowa-Rigpa and Homoeopathy — secretary Rajesh Kotecha has written to the Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar and informed that the Union Minister of State for Home G. Kishan Reddy and Karimnagar MP Sanjay Kumar has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to consider setting up the proposed centre in Hyderabad and wanted to know the extent of support the government wished to give for it.
Mr. Kotecha said that the proposed international centre will require global infrastructure, institutional and statutory support in a sustainable manner, adequate manpower, land for office and residences of staff, admissible security, appropriate AYUSH ecosystem etc. Telangana Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders including party president Bandi Sanjay Kumar and others have urged the government and Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar to take appropriate steps to ensure that the Centre allots the global centre to the capital. Earlier, Mr. Reddy and Mr. Kumar, in separate letters to the Centre, lobbied for the city stating that a “large chunk of unused land is available on the premises of Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Ltd (IDPL) and it is strategically located.”
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The party leaders said the capital enjoys ‘locational advantage’ and connects to all major cities through rail, road and air. It has knowledge-based industries to drive economic growth like biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and IT/ITES. Multinational life sciences giants like United States Pharmacopeia (USP), Du Pont, Albany Molecular Research Inc. (AMRI), Sanofi Aventis, Aptuit-Laurus etc. as well as home grown companies such as Dr Reddy’s, Aurobindo Pharma, Bharat Biotech etc, are here.
The city also houses renowned academic and research institutes along with super-speciality hospitals providing a vast pool of talent. Besides, the CSIR-CCMB has decided to make its foray into research and documentation of plant-based medicines by entering into a pact with Ghaziabad based Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission to take up documentation, validation and characterisation of Indian herbal drugs — all these will help the proposed global centre to work in tandem, explained the BJP MP and Telangana party chief.