The Member of Parliament (MP) from Haridwar, Ramesh Pokhariyal ‘Nishank’ strongly advocated for making Uttarakhand an Ayush State while participating in a debate under rule 377 in lok Sabha on Tuesday.
The BJP leader who also is the chairperson of the standing committee on Government Assurance said that Ayurveda is an ages old medicinal system which stresses on purity of mind apart from physical health.
He said that Charak and Sushrutt in their treatises had mentioned 341 and 760 medicinal plants respectively and all of them are found naturally in the Himalayas. Nishank said that more than 40 percent population of developed countries is now using drugs made from herbs while in India the percentage of such people is 70. He said that the Ayush related industry is witnessing a spectacular annual growth rate of 20-25 percent in last few years which is an encouraging sign. The BJP leader said that Uttarakhand is an extremely environment sensitive state in the country and with more than 65 percent forest cover the state is a natural choice for being a hub on any project on Ayurveda. He said that during his stint as Chief Minister of state, he accorded a status of second language to Sanskrit.
Nishank demanded that the government should set up an international research institute on Ayurveda in Uttarakhand.
The BJP leader also met the Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his office on the day in which he handed over a book written by him on river Ganga to the PM. The duo discussed many important issues related to Uttarakhand in the meeting.