As per Ministry of Ayush’s Annual Statistical Publication “AYUSH IN INDIA-2020”, the total numbers of Ayurvedic, Unani and Homoeopathic Licensed Pharmacies (manufacturing units) is as follows –

 

Ministry of Ayush has taken various steps to increase the manufacturing companies and popularize Ayush systems of medicines:           

 i. Ease out licensing process: This Ministry has issued Gazette notification no. G.S.R 716 E for Amendment in the Drugs Rules, 1945 related to licensing process of ASU drugs on 01.10.2021. The amendments have been done with a view to reduce the compliance burden and facilitate ease of doing business. The process to grant license to manufacture Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani (ASU) drugs has been made swift, paperless and more transparent through online e-aushadhi.gov.inportal. The license of the ASU drugs have been made perpetual i.e. with one time registration fee the license of the product will be valid lifetime with no further retention or renewal fees thereafter. The maximum time in granting the license to manufacture ASU drugs has been reduced from three months to two months.   

 ii. Schemes to support Ayurvedic medicines production: Under National Ayush Mission (NAM) from 2014-2021, apart from other services Grant-in-aid were also provided for Strengthening of State Government ASU&H Pharmacies.At present, Central Sector Scheme for AyushOushadhiGunavattaevamUttpadanSamvardhanYojana (AOGUSY)has been implemented for the year 2021-2026. One of the components of the scheme is Strengthening and up-gradation of Ayush Pharmacies to achieve higher standards.     

 iii. In addition to the above, for facilitating exports, Ministry of Ayush encourages following certifications of AYUSH products as per details below:-

• Certification of Pharmaceutical Products (CoPP) as per WHO Guidelines for herbal products.

• Quality Certifications Scheme implemented by the Quality Council of India (QCI) for grant of AYUSH Premium mark to Ayurvedic, Siddha and Unani products on the basis ofthird party evaluation of quality in accordance with the status of compliance to international standards.

 Ministry of Ayush has taken following steps to popularize Ayurvedic, Unani and Homoeopathic medicines in urban areas    

i. 12 National Institutes under the aegis of Ministry of Ayush are engaged in Outpatient and Indoor patient services. 05 Research Councils under Ministry of Ayush are also engaged in co-ordinating, formulating, developing and promoting research on scientific lines in Ayush systems of healthcare.These Institutes/ Councils organizesArogyaMelas, Awareness Camps, Treatment Camps for creating awareness on Ayush systems of healthcare among the general public.  The Councils conducts research in the diverse areas comprising of Clinical Research, Medicinal Plant Research, Drug Standardization & Quality Control; Pharmacological Research and Literary & Fundamental Research to generate tangible evidence.

ii. Under the celebration of “AZADI KA AMRIT MAHOTSAVA”, all National Institute and Research Councils under Ministry of Ayush has organized webinars, Medical camps, plantation of medicinal plants, public lectures and distribution of Ayush medicines.

iii. All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) under Ministry of Ayush has organized “AYU SAMVAD”(My Health My Responsibility) public awareness campaign program on Ayurveda and COVID-19 pandemic. Under this, more than 05 lacs lectures were organized across the nation by Ayurveda physicians.

iv. Ministry of Ayush has taken various initiatives and significant steps like- issuance of Advisories/ Guidelines for general public and AYUSH practitioners, Campaigns, training of Ayush manpower, communication to States/UTs, establishment of Inter-disciplinary AYUSH R&D Task Force, launch of 150 interdisciplinary research studies, Gazette notification for undertaking research on COVID-19 through Ayush systems of medicine, Augmentation of Human Resource,  for the mitigation and management of COVID-19.

This information was given by Minister of Ayush Shri SarbanandaSonowal in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.