The All India Ayurvedic Congress or Arogya Mela concluded in Chadigarh, Punjab on March 15 2015. The four- day event, the first of its kind to be held in North India, chiefly focused on popularizing the traditional healthcare system globally.
Image: All rights and credits to: www.chandigarhgov.in
Close to 3000 delegates from all over the country, SAARC nations, and BRICS participated in the Congress which started off with a brainstorming session inaugurated by the Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Surjit Kumar Jyani. He called for a revival of Ayurveda to provide relief to those that cannot afford the high costs of medical care. He also said that it was imperative that Ayurveda doctors develop new medicines to tackle the new diseases affecting humanity, thanks to the unregulated use of pesticides and other pollutants.
Padam Bhushan Vaidya Devender Triguna, President of All India Ayurvedic Congress who spoke on the occasion urged delegates to work towards expansion and strengthening of academics in the field of Ayurveda, especially in the northern parts of the country where facilities are sorely lacking. As part of this, he requested the Minister for Health to improve facilities at the Government Ayurveda College and Hospital in Patiala.
The President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the Plenary Session of the Congress which included an Educational and Scientific Conference where he appealed to practitioners to “demystify and popularize” Ayurvedic medicine through “informative marketing and user-friendly packaging.” He also called for greater collaboration between Ayurvedic and allopathic practitioners to broaden the database of medical treatmnets and health protocols, which would eventually benefit all people.
From the part of Ayurveda practitioners, they called for more funds from the Center towards research and health infrastructure building across the nation. There was also widespread demand for standardization of Ayurvedic medicines to boost confidence among people and assure them of its purity, which is the strength of Ayurvedic medicines. A method of standardization similar to the ISI mark was most essential for this, according to the Vaidyas who attended the conference.
