Lok Sabha Question No. 3452 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-13
Subject: Traditional Medicinal Knowledge
Ministry: AYUSH
Asked by: Shri Janardan Singh Sigriwal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF AYUSH

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3452

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 13 th  MARCH 2026

## Traditional Medicinal Knowledge

## 3452. Shri Janardan Singh Sigriwal:

## Will the Minister of AYUSH

be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  has  undertaken  any  initiatives  to  identify,  document  and  digitise Traditional  Medicinal  Knowledge  relevant  to  the  AYUSH  system  of  medicine  including Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, Sowa-Rigpa and Homoeopathy and if so, the details thereof, stream-wise;
- (b)  whether  any  mechanisms  are  in  place  to  protect  Traditional  Medicinal  Knowledge  from biopiracy, misappropriation or misuse including through intellectual property safeguards and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether Traditional Medicinal Knowledge has been integrated into education, research and clinical practice within AYUSH institutions and hospitals and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether financial assistance, research grants or capacity-building support is being provided to traditional  practitioners,  vaidyas  and  community  knowledge  holders  associated  with AYUSH systems and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) whether the Government has undertaken any national or international collaborations, databases or knowledge-sharing initiatives to promote, validate and ensure equitable benefit- sharing of Traditional  Medicinal  Knowledge  in  the AYUSH  system  of  medicine  and  if  so,  the  details thereof?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF AYUSH

## (SHRI PRATAPRAO JADHAV)

- (a) Yes, the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) is a prior art database of Indian traditional  knowledge  established  in  2001,  jointly  by  the  Council  of  Scientific  and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the then Department of Indian Systems of Medicine and

Homeopathy (now Ministry of Ayush). The TKDL currently contains information from ancient texts related to Indian Systems of Medicine such as Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa  and Yoga. The  information  existing  in  local  languages  such  as  Sanskrit,  Hindi, Tamil,  Malayalam,  Arabic,  Persian,  Urdu,  Bhoti,  etc.,  has  been  transcribed  into  five international languages, namely English, French, German, Spanish and Japanese in the TKDL database. A total of 519978 formulations/techniques from the Indian Systems of Medicine and Yoga practices have been transcribed in the TKDL database so far. This includes 148846 formulations/ techniques in Ayurveda, 265496 in Unani, 89403 in Siddha and 9097 in Sowa Rigpa, and 7136 in Yoga practices. This includes 2935 surgical methods, devices/ tools, therapies and dietary interventions from Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Sowa Rigpa.

Further,  the  Ministry  of  Ayush  has  launched  Ayusoft  portal  that  transforms  classical Ayurvedic texts into an authentic knowledge repository, offering tools like:

- i. AayurVidnyaana  (Ayurvedic encyclopedia),
- ii. ShabdaNidhi (glossary of Ayurvedic terms),
- iii. e-Samhita (e-Books portal)

North  Eastern  Institute  of  Ayurveda  &  Folk  Medicine  Research,  Pasighat  is  actively engaged  in  the  documentation  of  Local  Health  Tradition  research  in  the  field  of  folk medicine such as Documentation and Validation of Healing Practices and Folk Medicinal Claims among Ao tribes of Mokokchung District, Nagaland, Tai Phake Tribe in North East India, Traditional  Bone  Setters  (TBS)  practices  of  Khasi,  Garo  and  Jayantiya  tribes  of Meghalaya.

National  Institute  of  Ayurveda  (Deemed  to  be  University),  Jaipur  under  the  aegis  of Ministry of Ayush is functioning as a national nodal centre (since Dec 2020) for survey, identification, preservation, cataloguing and digitization of traditional medicinal knowledge  and  Ayurveda  manuscripts,  in  libraries,  private  collections,  temples  and traditional Vaidya families. Rare Ayurvedic manuscripts written on palm leaf, handmade paper, other traditional materials and old rare ayurveda books are being digitally preserved and archived for academic and research purposes. As of today, 560 ayurveda manuscripts and 356 rare ayurveda books are digitized.

Central  Council  for  Research  in  Aurvedic  Sciences  (CCRAS)  has  developed  APTA (Authoritative  Principal  Textbooks  of  Ayurveda)  Digital  Library  (Ayurveda  Grantha Samuccaya), Ayush Manuscripts Advanced Repository (AMAR), Showcase of Ayurvedic Historical Imprints (SAHI) & E- Medical Heritage Accession (E-Medha).

Central  Council  for  Research  in  Siddha  (CCRS)  has  undertaken  research  pertaining  to conservation, preservation and digitization of traditional Palm leaf manuscripts & Paper manuscripts including old books containing Siddha through Mission P2P Mode (Palm to Paper).

The Central library of Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda (ITRA), Jamnagar has digitalized many manuscripts and various PG-PhD research work carried out since 1956.

National  Institute  of  Sowa  Rigpa,  Leh  has  digitised  around  70  Sowa-  Rigpa  medical literatures regarding formulations and ancient medical manuscripts and running a project on Sowa- Rigpa Traditional Knowledge of Digital Library in collaboration with CSIRTKDL Unit, New Delhi.

- (b) The TKDL was established to prevent misappropriation of Indian traditional knowledge by way of intellectual property rights. The access to this prior art database is given to 18 patent offices worldwide that have signed non-disclosure Access Agreements with the CSIR, for the purposes of search and examination in the context of patent applications filed. In addition to the use of TKDL database by patent offices for examination of patent applications,  the  CSIR-TKDL  Unit  also  files  third  party  observations  and  pre-grant oppositions on patent applications related to Indian traditional knowledge, based on the TKDL  evidence.  Since  2009,  375  patent  applications  have  been  either  refused, withdrawn/deemed withdrawn or amended or set aside based on TKDL evidence, thus protecting Indian traditional knowledge.

Guidelines for Examination of Ayush- Related Inventions have been issued by the Office of  the  Controller  General  of  Patents,  Designs  and  Trade  Marks  (CGPDTM)  in consultation with the Ministry of Ayush. These guidelines provide a clear framework for the filing and examination of patent applications related to Ayush systems. The guidelines instruct  that  patents  are  granted  only  to  inventions  that  meet  the  criteria  of  novelty, inventive  step  and  industrial  applicability,  while  preventing  patenting  of  existing traditional knowledge through databases such as the TKDL.

Further, provisions under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 regulate access to biological resources  and  associated  traditional  knowledge  and  ensure  fair  and  equitable  benefit sharing through the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA).

- (c) Research Councils under Ministry of Ayush for Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, Homoeopathy, Yoga & Naturopathy are conducting research on this line through their peripheral Institutes spread across the country. Further, an Ayush Research Portal has been developed by the Ministry for promotion and propagation of Ayush where 43,614 evidence-based research articles are listed. Further, National Commission for Homoeopathy (NCH) has introduced Research Methodology and research-oriented electives in the curriculum to encourage documentation, analysis and academic study of traditional knowledge.
- (d) Ministry of Ayush is implementing a Central Sector Scheme (CSS) namely Ayurgyan since 2021-22 with the aim to support Research & Innovation in Ayush by providing Extra Mural Research  activities  and  education  by  providing  academic  activities,  training,  Capacity Building etc.   The Scheme has 03 components viz.
- (i) Capacity Building & Continuing Medical Education (CME) in Ayush
- (ii) Research & Innovation in Ayush
- (iii) Ayurveda  Biology  Integrated  Health  Research  has  also  been  added  under  the scheme from F.Y. 2023-24 as a 3rd component.

Under the above scheme, financial assistance is provided to the eligible organizations/ institutions across the country, in accordance with the provisions contained in the scheme guidelines.

CCRAS is implementing CCRAS Ayurveda Gyan Naipunya Initiative (CCRAS-AGNI) initiative with an intent to mainstream the pragmatic Ayurveda practices through scientific validation and evidence-based appraisal. The details of this initiative may be accessed from the  link:  https://ccras.nic.in/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/CCRAS-AGNI-2.0.pdf.  One  of the objectives of this initiative is to provide capacity building to Ayurveda practitioners through training in research methods and good clinical practices.

Further, the financial assistance was provided for the certification process of Traditional Healers by the Quality Council of India, Govt. of India, during the FY 2024-25.

- (e) Ministry of Ayush is implementing the central sector scheme for Promotion of International Cooperation for Ayush (IC Scheme). Under this scheme the Ministry provides support to Indian Ayush drug Manufacturers/ Ayush Service providers to give boost to the export of Ayush  products  and  services;  facilitates  the  International  promotion,  development  and recognition of Ayush systems of medicine; foster interaction of stakeholders and market development of Ayush at international level; promote academics and research through the establishment  of  Ayush  Academic  Chairs  in  foreign  countries  and  holding  training workshop/symposiums  for  promoting  and  strengthening  awareness  and  interest  about Ayush Systems of Medicine at international level. Under the CSS IC Scheme, 27 Country to  Country  Memorandum  of  Understanding  (MoUs),  16  Ayush  Chair  MoUs  and  54 Institute to Institute level MoUs have been signed.

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