Union AYUSH Minister Shripad Naik on Sunday sought to defend his Government for failing to bring the alternative medicine system in the ambit of the world’s largest national medical insurance scheme under the Ayushman Bharat — Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (PMJAY) launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently, saying nitty-gritty’s were being discussed.
He said, “My Ministry is in touch with the Union Health Ministry and Niti Aoyog to ensure that the medical insurance cover is given to the patients seeking alternate medical system AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy). We hope this will happen soon,” said the Minister on the sidelines of an event held here to mark the first Naturopathy Day.
Surprisingly, while the Government has been patting its back for promoting holistic alternative healthcare like never before, the PMJAY scheme which was launched with much fanfare by Prime Minister Narendra Modi a few months ago does not provide insurance coverage to the alternative medicine system AYUSH.
Earlier, after inaugurating the first Naturopathy Day Programme, Naik said his Ministry is introducing several schemes to expand the naturopathy treatment which is cost effective and side-effect-free system.
Work on building natural clinics is already in progress in Pune, Goa, Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, the Minister said as he pointed out that the health challenges including rising non-communicable diseases we are facing today is because we have forgotten our traditional system of medicine.
Jaiprakash Aggarwal of International Naturopathy Organisation, which had organised the event in collaboration with the Ministry, explained that all the treatments given under Naturopathy are based on Pancha Mahabhootas theory and elimination of morbid matter is the best remedy in all disease conditions.
The Chairman of the Surya Foundation also favoured taking the system to each and every household.
Naturopathy experts such as Dr Yogesh Gupta and Shallu Gupta, both from Delhi-based Ojas Nature Cure and Yoga Centre called for regulation and standardisation of the sector which is gaining popularity not only amongst Indians but foreigners too owing to its several benefits.
Dr Navdeep Joshi, naturotherapist from Navyoga Kendra, Delhi too agreed saying, that people are now accepting the efficacy of these sciences as panacea for psychosomatic ailments and lifestyle disorders.