New Delhi: The Ministry of Ayush and the Research and Information System for Developing Countries signed an agreement on Tuesday for undertaking research, policy dialogue and capacity building in the field of Indian traditional medicines. The MoU will help bring out an overview of Ayush service sector and will be an continuation of academic cooperation and collaboration with the RIS, an autonomous policy research institute of the Ministry of External Affairs, the Ayush Ministry said in a statement.
Ayush Secretary Rajesh Kotecha and RIS Director General Sachin Chaturvedi signed the MoU. "The Ministry of Ayush has started work way back with RIS and FITM (Forum on Indian Traditional Medicine) was formed. Through FITM, RIS has contributed many policy papers, policy directions, etc. Through this MoU, the Ministry of Ayush has agreed to continue this work," Kotecha said.
He highlighted an report of RIS titled "Ayush Sector in India: Prospects and Challenges" and stated that "through this report it becomes evident that Ayush manufacturing sector has grown eight times in the last nine years". RIS will also come out with a similar report on Ayush service sector in a time-bound manner, he added.
Chaturvedi highlighted the scope of the MoU and said, "There is a continuous need of having an inclusive and broad overview of market estimates, products standardization, regulations, etc. in international trade, and FITM is continuously working towards it." He said that the Ayush sector has the potential of becoming a key driver of medical tourism.
Chaturvedi said the growth of the Ayush sector is closely linked with safeguarding and maintenance of biodiversity and there is a need to think in new terms regarding the Biological Diversity Act-2002. "From Ayush perspective, it is not only that we use biodiversity but also safeguard biodiversity for coming years," he said.
