Lok Sabha Question No. 215 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-02-02
Subject: Traditional Medicinal Knowledge
Ministry: AYURVEDA,YOGA & NATUROPATHY,UNANI,SIDDHA AND HOMEOPATHY (AYUSH)
Asked by: Debasree Chaudhuri

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AYUSH

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 215 TO BE ANSWERED ON 02 nd  February, 2024

## 'Traditional Medicinal Knowledge'

## 215.  MS. DEBASREE CHAUDHURI:

Will the Minister of AYUSH be pleased to state:

- (a) the steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to collate India's rich history  and  legacy  of  traditional  medicinal  knowledge  and  conduct  research  to understand their authenticity;
- (b) whether  the  Government  has  collected  medical  books  authored  in  Ancient and Medieval periods in India;
- (c) if  so,  whether  they  are  being  decoded  with  the  help  of  modern  medical researchers; and
- (d) if  so,  whether the Government has any plans to start a journal on traditional medicinal knowledge which will help to collect information and also suppress those who misuse the brand of traditional treatment and medicines?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF AYUSH (SHRI SARBANANDA SONOWAL)

- (a) Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), New Delhi; National  Institute  of  Sowa  Rigpa  (NISR),  Leh;  Institute  of  Teaching  and Research  in  Ayurveda  (ITRA),  Jamnagar;  National  Institute  of  Ayurveda (NIA),  Jaipur;  North  Eastern  Institute  of  Ayurveda  and  Homoeopathy (NEIAH),  Shillong;  All  India  Institute  of  Ayuveda  (AIIA),  New  Delhi  and

North Eastern institute of Ayurveda and Folk Medicine Research (NEIAFMR),  Pasighat  under  ambit  of  Ministry  of  Ayush  are  engaged  in various  types  of  research  (experimental,  systemic  review,  cohort,  clinical, literary  etc.),  and  documentation; revival and retrieval of text from ancient manuscripts  and  rare  books;  development  of  new  Ayurvedic  medicines; repositioning and revalidating existing Ayurvedic medicines and systematic research,  documentation  and  validation  of  traditional  folk  medicine  and health practices.  National  Institute  of  Indian  Medical  Heritage,  Hyderabad under  CCRAS,  has  developed  two  web  portals  viz  AYUSH  Manuscripts Advanced  Repository  (AMAR)  portal  and  the  Showcase  of  Ayurvedic Historical  Imprints  (SAHI)  portal,  for  providing  structured  metadata  along with  a  description  of  contents  of  various  manuscripts  pertaining  to  Ayush System of medicine and for virtual collection of validated primary evidences of Ayurvedic practice from antiquity till date, respectively.

The  Central  Council  for  Research  in  Unani  Medicine  (CCRUM)  and Central  Council  for  Research  in  Siddha  (CCRS)  are  conducting  literary research  programme  to  collate  history  of  traditional  medicinal  knowledge and  also  conduct  research.  The  ancient  classical  text  of  Unani  Medicine written originally in Arabic/Persian are tendered into Indian/foreign languages.

- (b) NISR  has  collected  medical  books  authored  in  ancient  India.  The  total number of books is 24 in Tibetan Buddhist Canon, Stangyur. ITRA's central library has almost 7000+ manuscripts in which 500+ are related to Indian traditional medicine. ITRA has also digitalized 500+ manuscripts which are available at public domain. NIA has collected 300 old works in the form of Ayurveda manuscripts written in Ancient India and Medieval period which are  digitalized.  CCRAS  has  undertaken  various  projects  as  a  part  of  the acquisition,  cataloguing,  digitization  and  publication  of  manuscripts  under the  central  sector  scheme  of  the  Ministry  of  Ayush.  The  Council  has digitalized  more  than  5000  manuscripts.  CCRUM  has  collected  medical books authored in ancient and medieval period from different libraries of the country.  Further,  to  prevent  exploitation  and  to  protect  Indian  traditional knowledge  at  Patent  Offices  worldwide,  Ministry  of  Ayush  under  joint collaboration with Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) had taken a pioneering initiative and formed the Traditional Knowledge Digital

Library (TKDL) in 2001. The information from the ancient texts of medicine and health existing in local languages have been  digitized in five international  languages,  namely,  English,  French,  German,  Spanish  and Japanese  in  the  TKDL  database  as  prior  art.  The  database  currently contains more than 4.5 lakh formulations/ practices transcribed from texts of Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa and Yoga.

- (c) Comparative  study  of  Ancient  medical  literature  in  Bhoti  language  with available Sanskrit text is presently going on in NISR. Ayurveda principles mentioned  in  the  books  are  constantly  being  re-validated  by  ITRA  with various researches and getting published in peer reviewed journals. Four (4) of the collective digitalized Manuscripts have been decoded by NIA as per modern research parameters. CCRAS has undertaken clinical studies to evaluate the clinical safety and efficacy of Ayurvedic classical formulations in various disease conditions. Various clinical, medicinal and pharmacological researches conducted by NEIAH in Ayush, are done in the lines  of  the  knowledge  of  the  various  ancient  and  medieval  treatises. CCRUM is decoding the literature with the help of modern scientific tools.
- (d) ITRA  is  running  a  very  reputed  journal  called  AYU  -  (A  Quarterly  Peer Reviewed  Journal  of  Research  in  Ayurveda).  CCRAS  is  publishing  3 Journals periodically viz journal of Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (JRAS), journal  of  Drug  Research  in  Ayurvdic  Sciences  (JDRAS)  and  journal  of Indian  Medical  Heritage  (JIMH).  NEIAH  also  publishes  AYUHOM,  a  biannual journal on traditional knowledge and related to research in Ayurveda and  Homoeopathy.  AIIA  is  publishing  two  journals  namely  Journal  of Ayurveda  Case  Reports  (AyuCaRe)  and  the  International  Journal  of Ayurveda Research (IJAR) wherein research articles are published, helping in  popularizing  Ayurveda  globally.  Based  on  the  traditional  medicinal knowledge,  CCRUM  is  also  publishing  two  quarterly  journals  namely Hippocratic Journal of Unani Medicine(English) and Jahan-e-Tib (Urdu).

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