Lok Sabha Question No. 80 (STARRED), answered on 2024-07-26
Subject: Growth of AYUSH Sector
Ministry: AYUSH
Asked by: Dr. Amar Singh, Adv. Adoor Prakash

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AYUSH

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 80 TO BE ANSWERED ON 26 th  JULY, 2024

## 'Growth of AYUSH Sector'

## *80  Dr. Amar Singh:

## Adv. Adoor Prakash:

- Will the Minister of AYUSH be pleased to state: (a) the details of Year-on-Year growth of the AYUSH sector in the country during the last five years; (b) whether there is a shortage of raw materials, especially due to over reliance on forest produce and if so, the details thereof alongwith the steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to overcome the shortage of raw material; (c)  whether  the  Government  has  any  concrete  strategy  to  streamline  regulatory  mechanisms within the AYUSH sector and if so, the details thereof; (d) whether the Government is aware of the reports that campaigning against Ayurveda has badly
- affected ayurvedic sector in the country including medical tourism; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof and the action taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF AYUSH (SHRI PRATAPRAO JADHAV)

- (a) to (e) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## THE  STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  LOK  SABHA  STARRED QUESTION NO. 80 FOR 26 th JULY, 2024.

(a)  Ministry of Ayush has taken various initiatives and steps for the growth  of Ayush sector including      Education,  Public    Health,  Ayush  drug  industry    and  Medicinal  plants.  Further, Ministry of Ayush has also published a report entitled 'A Decade of Transformative Growth in Ayush, 2014-2024'. Details are available at https://ayush.gov.in/images/annualReport/ DecadeAyushReport.pdf. Year-on-Year growth of the Ayush sector in the country during the last five years are as follows -

## i. Budget of Ministry of Ayush

During  the  last  five  years,  budget  allocation  to  Ministry  of  Ayush  has  been  increased which reflects a growing recognition of the importance of the sector. Year wise details of budget allocated to Ministry of Ayush are at Annexure-I.

## ii. Ayush Infrastructure

Total  Number  of  Ayush  Hospitals,  Beds,  Dispensaries  and  Registered  Practitioners (Doctors) the countries during the years 2018-2022 are at Annexure-II.

## iii. Ayush  drug industry

As per the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) report  of 2020,  the  Ayush  manufacturing  industry  size  has  been  estimated  at  Rs.1,37,800  crores  (USD 18.1 Bn) that is 6 times rise in 7 years. Similarly, preliminary study of RIS shows Rs 1,66,797 Crores  Revenue in  Ayush Service sector.  Total  number  of    Ayush  manufacturing  units  in  the country during the  years 2018-2022 (as reported by State Governments/ Concerned Agencies) are  at Annexure-III.

Indian Medicines Pharmaceutical Corporation Limited (IMPCL) is a central public sector undertaking  under  Ministry  of  Ayush,  which  is  engaged  in  manufacturing  of  Ayurveda  and Unani medicines in Ayush Sector. Turnover of IMPCL during past five years is at AnnexureIV.

## iv. Education

National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM) Act 2020 and National Commission for Homoeopathy (NCH) Act 2020 were enacted in September 2020. These acts replaced the old Indian Medicine Central Council Act 1970 and Homoeopathy Central Council Act 1973 respectively. Year-wise details of Ayush colleges established in last five years are at Annexure-V.

(b)  No  shortage  of  raw  materials  in  Ayush  sector  has  been  reported  to  Ministry  of  Ayush. Further, to facilitate the cultivation  of raw material in Ayush sector, National Medicinal Plants Board  (NMPB)  under  Ministry  of  Ayush  has  implemented  'Central  Sector  Scheme  on Conservation, Development and Sustainable Management of Medicinal Plants'  throughout the country, with an outlay of Rs. 322.41 crore for a period of five years from 2021-22 to 2025-26. For the current financial year 2023-24, Rs.43.49 crore has been allocated under the said scheme. This  Central  Sector  Scheme  is  aimed  at  providing  project  based  support  for  the  following activities:

1. in-situ conservation / ex-situ conservation
2.  Information  Education  Communication  activities  like  Training/  Workshops/  Seminars/ Conference etc.
3. Research and Development
4. Promotion, marketing and trade of medicinal plants produce.
5. Establishment of nurseries
6. Forward and backward linkage in supply chain of medicinal plants (Integrated component)

Under  this  scheme,  Regional  Cum  Facilitation  Centres  (RCFCs)  has  been  supported  for development to farmers/ growers to increase the cultivation of medicinal plants. The details of Quality Planting Material (QPM) of medicinal plants species developed through RCFCs during the year 2017-18 to 2023-24 are at Annexure-VI.

Further,  National  Medicinal  Plants  Board  (NMPB)  supports  demand  and  supply  study from  time  to  time  and  had  conducted  an  extensive  survey  and  compiled  a  book  entitled 'Medicinal Plants in India: An Assessment of their Demand and Supply' during the year 2017.

The classical Indian healthcare systems, however, as per the study continue to be largely dependent upon wild collected herbal raw material with nearly 85% of the species diversity and more than 70% of the volumes of herbal raw drugs consumed being sourced from the wild. The annual demand of herbs/ medicinal plants in the country was estimated about 5,12,000 Metric Tones in 2014-15. Further, as per this study, about 1178 medicinal plants species recorded in practices of trade, out of which 242 species are traded in high volume with an estimate of more than 100 MT per annum. The study was published in year 2017 is available on www.nmpb.nic.in under title  'Medicinal  Plants  in  India:  An  Assessment  of  their  Demand  and  Supply,  Ved  and Goraya (2017)'.  Further,  as  per  the  second  advance  for  the  financial  year  2023-24,  (statistics division,  Ministry  of  Agriculture  and  Farmers  Welfare)  an  area  of  742,000  hectare  has  been covered under cultivation of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants with Production of 645,000 MT.

Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy (CCRH) has Center of Medicinal Plants Research in Homoeopathy (CMPRH), Ooty, Tamil Nadu. This institute is engaged in cultivation, survey,  collection  and  maintenance  of  germplasm  of  exotic  and  indigenous  plants  used  in homoeopathy  Center  of  Medicinal  Plant  Research  in  Homoeopathy  (CMPRH)  at  Emerald, Nilgiris  district,  Tamil  Nadu  under  Central  Council  for  Research  in  Homoeopathy  (CCRH)  is maintaining,  cultivating  the  germplasm  of  104  plant  species  (92  exotic  and  12  indigenous) medicinal plants used in homoeopathy.

Central  Council  for  Research  in  Siddha  (CCRS)  through  Siddha  Medicinal  Plants Garden, Mettur Dam cultivates medicinal plants to meet the demand for the production of Siddha formulations at Pharmacy of CCRS and also for supply for the research and related purpose.

(c) Ministry of Ayush has taken following steps to streamline regulatory mechanisms within the Ayush sector:

(i)  As  prescribed  in  Drugs  and  Cosmetics  Act  1940  and  Rules  1945  made  thereunder, enforcement of the legal provisions pertaining to Quality Control and issuance of drug license of Ayurveda, Siddha,  Unani and Homoeopathy drugs, is vested with the State Drug Controllers/ State Licensing Authorities appointed by the concerned State/ Union Territory Government. Rule 158-B in the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945 provides the regulatory guidelines for issue of license to manufacture Ayurvedic, Siddha, Unani medicines and Rule 85 (A to I) in the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945 provides the regulatory guidelines for issue of license to manufacture Homoeopathy medicines.

(ii)  In  2021,  Ministry  of  Ayush  has  implemented  Central  Sector  Scheme  AYUSH  Oushadhi Gunvatta Evam Uttpadan Samvardhan Yojana (AOGUSY) and the total financial allocation to this  scheme  is  Rs.  122.00  crores  for  five  years.  The  components  of  AOGUSY  scheme  are  as follows -

A. Strengthening  and  up-gradation  of  Ayush  Pharmacies  and  Drug  Testing  Laboratories  to achieve higher standards.

B. Pharmacovigilance of ASU&H drugs including surveillance of misleading advertisements.

C. Strengthening  of  Central  and  State  regulatory  frameworks  including  Technical  Human Resource & Capacity Building programs for Ayush drugs.

D. Support  for  development  of  standards  and  accreditation/certification  of  Ayush  products  & materials in collaboration with Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Quality Control of India (QCI) and other relevant scientific institutions and industrial R&D centres.

(iii)    Pharmacovigilance  Centres  for  Ayurveda,  Siddha,  Unani  and  Homoeopathy  (ASU&H) Drugs set up in different parts of the country under the Central Scheme of Ministry of Ayush are mandated to monitor and report the misleading advertisements to the respective State Regulatory Authorities.  A  three  tier  structure  comprising  of  a  National  Pharmacovigilance  Co-ordination Centre (NPvCC), Intermediary Pharmacovigilance Centres (IPvCs) and Peripheral Pharmacovigilance Centres (PPvCs) is established. All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), New Delhi  under  Ministry  of  Ayush  is  the  National  Pharmacovigilance  Co-ordination  Centre (NPvCC)  for  the  implementation  of  the  National  Pharmacovigilance  program  for  Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani & Homoeopathy drugs.  Objectionable advertisements are being reported to the respective  State  Licensing  Authorities  by  PPvC  at  regular  intervals.  Also,  as  per  National Commission  for  Indian  System  of  Medicine  Regulations,  2022  and  National  Commission  for Homoeopathy regulations, 2022, Pharmacovigilance is a mandate component for all the Ayush system  of  medicine.  Also,  1500  awareness  programs  have  been  conducted  with  115283 beneficiaries, details are at Annexure-VII.

(iv)  Government  of  India  has  established  Pharmacopoeia  Commission  for  Indian  Medicine  & Homoeopathy (PCIM&H), as its subordinate office. PCIM&H on behalf of Ministry of Ayush lays  down  the  formulary  specifications  and  Pharmacopoeial  Standards  for  Ayurveda,  Siddha, Unani  and  Homoeopathy  (ASU&H)  drugs/  medicines,  which  serve  as  official  compendia  for ascertaining  the  quality  control  (identity,  purity  and  strength)  of  the  ASU&H  drugs,  included herein, as per Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Rules 1945, thereunder and compliance to these quality standards are mandatory for the production of ASU&H drug being manufactured in India.

(v)  The  National  Commission  for  Indian  System  of  Medicine  (NCISM)  is  the  statutory  body constituted under NCISM Act, 2020. NCISM is a regulatory body and has notified 15 regulations to regulate medical education, examination, degree recognition, institution, research, ethics and registration  of  practitioners.  These  regulations  are  available  at  https://ncismindia.org/underncism-act-2020.php.

(vi)  In  order  to  assess  compliance  of  standards  to  be  followed  by  Homeopathic  Medical Colleges for quality education following regulation has been notified 'National commission for Homoeopathy (Assessment and rating of medical institutions) Regulations, 2024 notified on 12th March, 2024' which has the following major provisions:

-  Procedure of rating and assessment of medical institutions on annual basis onwards.
-  Imposition of penalty/ derecognition of colleges for failure to maintain minimum essential standards of education.

Details  of  these  regulations  are  available  at  https://nch.org.in/upload/Assessment-andRating-of-Medical-Institutions.pdf.

(vii)    Ministry  of  Ayush  vide  gazette  notification  no.  G.S.R.  716  (E)  dated  01.10.2021  has reduced 23 identified compliances related to Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani drugs to reduce the compliance burden.

(d) & (e) Ministry of Ayush and Board of Ethics and registration under NCISM have received many representations from different organization regarding defamation of Ayurveda and other Indian System of Medicine by the doctors of different pathies. In this regard, taking cognizance on the matter, concerned authorities has been requested to take strict action from time to time.

******

Year wise details of budget allocated to Ministry of Ayush are as follows-

| Year      | Allocation of budget (Rs. In Crore)   |
|-----------|---------------------------------------|
| 2019-20   | Rs. 1939.76                           |
| 2020-21   | Rs. 2122.08                           |
| 2021-22   | Rs. 2970.30                           |
| 2022-23   | Rs. 3050                              |
| 2023-2024 | Rs. 3647.50                           |

## Annexure-I

## Annexure-II

Total  Number  of  Ayush  Hospitals,  Beds,  Dispensaries  and  Registered  Practitioners (Doctors) the countries during the years 2018-2022 are as follows -

|   S.No. | Facility                           | 2018     | 2019     | 2020     | 2021     | 2022     |
|---------|------------------------------------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|
|       1 | Hospitals                          | 3,986    | 3,781    | 3,859    | 3,844    | 3,859    |
|       2 | Beds                               | 56,586   | 60,632   | 60,653   | 60,943   | 61,549   |
|       3 | Dispensaries                       | 27,199   | 29,091   | 29,951   | 36,848   | 37,385   |
|       4 | Registered Practitioners (Doctors) | 7,99,879 | 6,46,013 | 7,12,132 | 7,55,780 | 7,30,317 |

(Source: State/UT Governments and Concerned Agencies)

## Annexure-III

Total  nnumber  of    Ayush  manufacturing  units  in  the  country  during  the  years  2018-2022  (as reported by State Governments/ Concerned Agencies)  are  as follows-

|                     | 2018   | 2019   | 2020   | 2021   | 2022   |
|---------------------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|
| Ayush Manufacturing | 8,954  | 8,407  | 8,104  | 8,648  | 8,705  |

(Source: State/UT Governments and Concerned Agencies)

Year-wise turnover of IMPCL during past five years is as follows -

| Year    | Turn over     |
|---------|---------------|
| 2018-19 | Rs.86.83 Cr.  |
| 2019-20 | Rs.97.04 Cr.  |
| 2020-21 | Rs.164.02 Cr. |
| 2021-22 | Rs.260.84 Cr. |
| 2022-23 | Rs.223.23 Cr. |

## Year-wise details of Ayush colleges established during last five years -

A. Year-wise details of Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Sow-Rigpa colleges established in last five years are as follows-

|                 |   Ayurveda |   Siddha |   Unani |   Sowa-Rigpa |
|-----------------|------------|----------|---------|--------------|
| No. of Colleges |        150 |       06 |      03 |           03 |

## B.   Year wise details of number of Homoeopathic medical colleges established in last five with sanctioned undergraduate and postgraduate seats, is as follows -

|   Sr. No. | Years   |   Total Colleges |   New colleges permitted |   Under graduate seats |   Post graduate seats |
|-----------|---------|------------------|--------------------------|------------------------|-----------------------|
|         1 | 2019-20 |              247 |                       00 |                  18537 |                  1406 |
|         2 | 2020-21 |              247 |                       00 |                  18537 |                  1406 |
|         3 | 2021-22 |              259 |                       12 |                  19407 |                  1606 |
|         4 | 2022-23 |              270 |                       11 |                  21473 |                  1788 |
|         5 | 2023-24 |              277 |                       07 |                  21965 |                  2051 |

The details of Quality Planting Material (QPM) of medicinal plants species developed through RCFCs during the year 2017-18 to 2023-24 are as follows -

|   S.no. | Regional Cum Facilitation Centres (RCFCs)   | No. of saplings of QPM developed (in Nos.) during 2017-18 to 2023-24   |
|---------|---------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|       1 | RCFC (Northern Region -1)                   | 14,32,566                                                              |
|       2 | RCFC (Northern Region -2)                   | 22,93,003                                                              |
|       3 | RCFC (Central Region)                       | 4,92,624                                                               |
|       4 | RCFC (Eastern Region)                       | 25,59,953                                                              |
|       5 | RCFC (Southern Region)                      | 38,96,670                                                              |
|       6 | RCFC (NE Region)                            | 25,39,263                                                              |

Details of 1500 awareness programs with 115283 beneficiaries are as follows -

| Year   |   Awareness Program |   Beneficiaries |
|--------|---------------------|-----------------|
| 2018   |                   1 |              50 |
| 2019   |                  54 |             800 |
| 2020   |                  60 |            4300 |
| 2021   |                 118 |           14659 |
| 2022   |                 292 |           23510 |
| 2023   |                 586 |           43396 |
| 2024   |                 389 |           28568 |
| Total  |                1500 |          115283 |

Annexure-VII