Lok Sabha Question No. 807 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-02-07
Subject: Promotion of Herbal Medicines
Ministry: AYUSH
Asked by: Dr. M K Vishnu Prasad

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AYUSH

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 807 TO BE ANSWERED ON 07 th FEBRUARY, 2025

## 'Promotion of Herbal Medicines'

## 807 . Dr. M K Vishnu Prasad:

Will the Minister of AYUSH be pleased to state:

(a)  whether  adequate  steps  have  been  taken  by  Government  to  promote/publicise  herbal medicines among the people through newspapers, media and social media;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c)  the  details  of  the  various  States  and  regions  identified  by  the  Government  to  promote herbal medicinal plantations and allocation of funds for the purpose during the last two years and current year; and

(d) further steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to promote herbal medicines in the country?

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

(a),(b)&(d)  Ministry  of  Ayush  has  implemented  Central  Sector  Scheme  for  Promotion  of Information  Education  and  Communication  (IEC)  in  Ayush  to  create  awareness  regarding Ayush Systems of Medicine. This aims to reach out to all sections of the population across the  country.  This  scheme  provides  assistance  for  organizing  National/State  Arogya  Fairs, Yoga  Fests/Utsavs,  Ayurveda  Parvs  etc.  The  Ministry  also  undertakes  Multi-Media,  Print Media Campaigns for creating awareness about Ayush systems.

The Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) is an apex body of the Ministry of Ayush that formulates and conducts research on scientific lines in Ayurveda. The Council is also engaged in awareness activities for the promotion of Ayurveda through its  Information,  Education  and  Communication (IEC)  activities  and  through  electronic  and print media for common people in English, Hindi, and regional languages, which are widely distributed through National/ State level Arogya melas, health camps, exhibitions, expos and also  through  outreach  programs  viz.Schedule  Caste  Sub  Plan  Research  Program,  Tribal Health Care Research Program (THCRP), etc. in different states of the country through its robust 30 peripheral institutes. The Council website is also embodied with IEC materials and hyperlinked  with  other  important  websites  that  provide  information  for  wider  utility.The Council has three journals named Journal of Drug Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (JDRAS), Journal of Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (JRAS) and Journal of Indian Medical Heritage (JIMH) which are also available electronically  in  the  public  domain  free  of  cost  to  enable dissemination  of  the  outcomes  of  research among the  public.  So  far,  the  Council  has

published  about  409  books,  monographs,  and  technical  reports  which  are  being  sold  or distributed to disseminate research outcomes and merits of Ayurveda at large.

The  Central  Council  for  Research  in  Unani  Medicine  (CCRUM)  has  taken  various initiatives  for  promotion  of  the  Unani  Medicine  in  the  country  by  different  methods  e.g. providing  treatment  through  General  OPD,  Reproductive  and  Child  Healthcare  OPD, Geriatric OPD, Non-Communicable Diseases Clinic etc. conducted by 21 Clinical Institutes / Units of the Council throughout the country. The Council is also promoting Unani system of medicine  through  Arogya  Health  Melas,  Health  Camps,  and  Exhibitions  etc.  Besides  the school  health  programs  and  clinical  mobile  research  programs,  outreach  programs  viz. Schedule Caste Sub Plan (SCSP) and Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) Research Programs are being carried out by the Council.

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 the Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Rules 1945, thereunder  and  compliance  to  these  quality  standards  are  mandatory  for  the  production  of ASU&H drugs being manufactured, sold and stocked in India. During the last five years, 60 quality standards on raw materials (Single Drugs of plant/animal/Mineral/ Chemical origin) used in Ayurveda and Unani system of medicine, 03 quality standards of Ayurveda, Siddha and  Unani  (ASU)  formulations,  219  formulary  specifications  of  ASU  drugs  have  been published in respective pharmacopoeias and formularies.

(c) Ministry  of  Ayush  has  implemented  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  of  National  Ayush Mission  (NAM)  to  promote  the  cultivation  of  medicinal  plants  since  2015-16  to  2020-21. Under 'Medicinal Plants' component of the NAM Scheme, market driven cultivation of 140 prioritized  medicinal  plants  in  identified  clusters/zones  was  supported  throughout  the country. As per the scheme guidelines, the support was provided for:

- (i) Cultivation of prioritized medicinal plants on farmer's land.
- (ii) Establishment  of  nurseries  with  backward  linkages  for  raising  and  supply  of quality planting material.
- (iii) Post-harvest management with forward linkages.
- (iv) Primary processing, marketing infrastructure etc.

Till  date,  Ministry  of  Ayush  has  released  an  amount  of  Rs.14115.668  lakhs  as  a central share and supported 56,305 hectare area, 220 nurseries, 354 post-harvest management units  etc.  under  medicinal  plants  component  of  NAM  from  the  financial  year  2015-16  to 2020-21. Details are given at Annexure-I .

National  Medicinal  Plant  Board  (NMPB),  Ministry  of  Ayush  is  presently implementing  'Central  Sector  Scheme  for  Conservation,  Development  and  Sustainable Management of Medicinal Plants' throughout the country under which there is provision to support  Resource  Augmentation  for  conservation  of  medicinal  plant  and  NMPB  has

implemented  plantation  of  medicinal  plants/herbs  through  State  Forest  Departments.  The State/UT-wise  details  of  fund  allocated  for  the  purpose  during  the  last  two  years  and  the current year is at Annexure-II.

The  Central  Council  for  Research  in  Homoeopathy  (CCRH)  has  Centre  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. CMPRH at Emerald, Nilgiris district, Tamil Nadu under CCRH is cultivating and maintaining the germplasm of 104 plant species (92 exotic and  12  indigenous)  medicinal  plants  used  in  homoeopathy.  The  expenditure  made  by CMPRH, Tamil Nadu is given at Annexure-III.

Annexure - I

Details of activities supported under Medicinal Plants Component of 'National Ayush Mission'(NAM) Scheme, Ministry of Ayush from the F.Y. 2015-16 to 2020-21 :

|   S. No. | Activities supported                                         |   2015-16 |   2016-17 |   2017-18 |   2018-19 |   2019-20 |   2020-21 |   Total |
|----------|--------------------------------------------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|---------|
|        1 | Cultivation of Medicinal Plants (Area in hectare)            |   8722    |  12109    |  10366    |   9958    |    6794   |  8356     | 56305   |
|        2 | Establishment of Nursery (In Nos)                            |     32    |     39    |     38    |     38    |      50   |    23     |   220   |
|        3 | Post-harvest Management (In Nos)                             |     62    |     48    |     66    |     52    |      99   |    27     |   354   |
|        4 | Processing Unit (In Nos)                                     |      1    |      2    |      3    |      1    |      16   |     2     |    25   |
|        5 | Rural / District Collection Centres / Retail outlet (In Nos) |      0    |     11    |      9    |     17    |       2   |     3     |    42   |
|        6 | Seed germplasm centres (In Nos)                              |      0    |      3    |      5    |      0    |       1   |     1     |    10   |
|        7 | Demonstration plot (In Nos)                                  |      0    |      2    |      2    |      2    |       6   |     3     |    15   |
|        8 | Fund released (Rs. in lacs)                                  |   2305.46 |   2818.81 |   3069.72 |   2448.86 |    2473.2 |   999.609 | 14115.7 |

## Annexure-II

| Released data     | Released data   | Released data   | Released data   |
|-------------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
| 24.01.2025        | 24.01.2025      | 24.01.2025      | 24.01.2025      |
| Name of State     | Financial Year  | Financial Year  | Financial Year  |
|                   |                 |                 | (Rs. in Lakh)   |
|                   | 2022-23         | 2023-24         | 2024-25         |
| Arunachal Pradesh | _               | _               | _               |
| Andhra Pradesh    | _               | _               | _               |
| Assam             | _               | _               | _               |
| Chhattisgarh      | _               | _               | _               |
| Gujarat           | 243.45          | _               | 579.59          |
| Haryana           | _               | _               | _               |
| Himachal Pradesh  | _               | 17.89           | 13.48           |
| Jammu &Kashmir    | _               | _               | 34.64           |
| Jharkhand         | _               | _               | _               |
| Karnataka         | 155.47          | _               | _               |
| Kerala            | _               | 27.33           | _               |
| Madhya Pradesh    | 4.39            | _               | _               |
| Maharashtra       |                 |                 |                 |
| Manipur           | _               | _               | _               |
| Mizoram           | 200.90          | 26.13           | 20.55           |
| Nagaland          | _               | _               | _               |
| Odisha            | _               | _               | _               |
| Punjab            | _               | _               | _               |

| Rajasthan   | _       | _     | _      |
|-------------|---------|-------|--------|
| Sikkim      | 504.58  | _     | _      |
| Tamil Nadu  | _       | _     | _      |
| Telangana   | _       | _     | _      |
| Tripura     | _       | _     | _      |
| Uttarakhand | 120.06  | _     | _      |
| West Bengal | _       | _     | _      |
| Total       | 1228.85 | 71.35 | 648.26 |

## Annexure-III

The expenditure made by Centre of Medicinal Plants Research in Homoeopathy (CMPRH), Ooty, Tamil Nadu during the last two years and current year:

| State      | Name of the Centre   | Expenditure (In Rs. Lakhs)   | Expenditure (In Rs. Lakhs)   | Expenditure (In Rs. Lakhs)   |
|------------|----------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|
|            |                      | 2021-22                      | 2022-23                      | 2023-24                      |
| Tamil Nadu | CMPRH, Ooty          | 64.45                        | 60.08                        | 74.13                        |