New Delhi: Parliament Session on Ayurveda Practitioners

The recent session of parliament saw an address related to the issues of PG Ayurveda practitioners performing surgeries with the minister giving justification from the AYUSH ministry on the said CCIM move.

The notification issued by the CCIM, a statutory body under the AYUSH Ministry, authorizes post-graduate practitioners in specified streams of Ayurveda to be trained to perform surgical procedures such as excisions of benign tumours, amputation of gangrene, nasal and cataract operations. The notification informed that the students will be trained in two streams of surgery and would be awarded titles of MS (Ayurved) Shalya Tantra -- (General Surgery) and MS (Ayurved) Shalakya Tantra (Disease of Eye, Ear, Nose, Throat, Head and Oro-Dentistry).

The allopathy doctors across the country have been protesting for quite some time now against the notification issued by the Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM) that authorizes post-graduate practitioners in specified streams of Ayurveda to perform general surgical procedures, stating that it will lead to "mixopathy".

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This eventually met with stern opposition from allopathic doctors who are now sitting on hunger strike.

The issue was recently raised in the parliament, where the acting Minister for AYUSH, Shri Kiren Rijiju gave a thorough justification on the matter while responding to the questions brought forth by Shri Anand Sharma on whether trained Post Graduate practitioners of Ayurveda are permitted to perform surgery under the Indian Medicine Central Council (Post Graduate Ayurveda Education) Amendment Regulations, 2020.

It was explained by the minister that the Indian Medicine Central Council (Post Graduate Ayurveda Education) Amendment Regulations, 2020 specifies (in clearer terms than the earlier notification on the subject) that a total of 58 surgical procedures need to be practically trained by PG scholars of Shalya and Shalakya (cumulatively), so as to enable them to independently perform the said activities after completion of their PG Degree. The notification is specific to these specified surgical procedures and does not allow Shalya and Shalakya Post Graduates to take up any other types of surgery.

On the other question on whether such surgical procedures adequately ensure the health, safety, and postsurgical care of patients concerned, the minister replied in positive and stated, "PG scholars of Shalya and Shalakya are well trained in performing such surgical procedures. Also, the infrastructure required for the same is very well regulated by the Central Council of Indian Medicine and by the State acts where ever applicable. The Council also encourages for NABH accreditation of the hospitals attached to teaching institutions."

Further upon being asked that whether such procedures are identical in any form to those practiced in allopathic medicine, the minister clarified that the use of modern terminology in the said notification is to facilitate effective communication and correspondence not just among physicians but also among the different stakeholders including the public. In the instant notification, modern terms are adopted as per the requirement to ensure that the same is understood widely in the medical profession, in the stakeholding disciplines like the medico-legal, health IT etc., as well as by the public. Hence, the use of modern terminology was also required by maintaining the authenticity of Indian Systems of Medicine.

Shri Shripad Naik is the AYUSH Minister at present, however with him recently meeting a fatal accident, Kiren Rijiju has been given the additional charge.