Odisha scientist Dr Sanjib Kumar Karmee has urged both State and Central Governments for setting up of a National Institute of Ayurveda near Gandhamardan Hills in Balangir and Bargarh districts.
In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Karmee mentioned that Odisha is blessed with huge natural resources, especially with medicinal plants. In this regard, the Gandhamardan Hills is a hub of many known and unknown medicinal plants. Further Karmee stated that in 2009, while he was working at the Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands he submitted a detailed proposal to the CM for establishing a National Institute of Ayurveda near Gandhamardan Hills.
However, he lamented that no progress was made so far in setting up the institute. "Ayurveda is quickly entering mainstream drug discovery. Having a National Institute of Ayurveda in the Gandhamardan area will make the place a leader in the area of science in both national and international arena. It will also attract companies like Dabur, Ayur, Patanjali and others to set up labs/companies in the area," he told.
MP Shashi Tharoor from Kerala, has asked the Centre to establish a National Institute of Ayurveda in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. It is also important to note that Government of India has already merged three Ayurveda colleges under Gujarat Ayurveda University, Jamnagar and approved conferring the status of institution of national importance. In this context, Karmee requested both the PM and CM to revive his earlier proposal.
Further Karmee stated that, recently the Uttar Pradesh Government has taken several initiatives to develop an 800-km road in the State as an ‘herbal belt’ by planting medicinal and herbal trees along both sides of the roadways. Such a project is necessary in Odisha and needs to be implemented on a priority basis. Especially, both sides of State and National Highways close to the Mahanadi river and other water bodies can be planted with peepal, neem, brahmi, ashwagandha and other medicinal plants to intensify herbal and medicinal plant cultivation, he opined.