Delhi HC seeks Centre’s response on plea for ‘Indian Holistic Integrated Medicinal Approach’
New Delhi (IANS) | The Delhi High Court on Monday directed the Center and other respondents to file reply in six weeks on a plea seeking allopathy, ayurveda, yoga, naturopathy, Unani, Siddha to secure the right to health instead of ‘colonial segregation’. And there has been a demand to adopt the ‘Indian Holistic Integrated Medicinal Approach’ such as methods of homeopathy. A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sachin Datta issued the notice, filed in the form of a public interest litigation (PIL) by BJP leader and lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, while Kirtiman Singh, counsel for the Ministry of AYUSH, said he has filed his affidavit.
Taking note of the fact that out of all the respondents, only the Ministry of AYUSH has filed its reply in the matter, the bench directed them to file the same within the allotted time and listed the matter for further hearing on July 25. .
The Center had earlier informed the court that the issue had been referred to NITI Aayog and is under consideration.
Patanjali Research Institute had filed an intervention application in September 2022 to support the PIL, seeking their stand in the matter.
There has also been a demand for implementing a comprehensive integrated common curriculum and common curriculum of allopathy, Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy for all medical colleges to secure the right to health.
The petitioner states that despite huge investments, India’s current healthcare system has not been able to meet its standards and benefit the Indian population to fight acute and chronic diseases.
He said, “Health care delivery in India is classified under three categories primary, secondary and tertiary care. All the three levels need to work in unison to help provide healthcare on all the four pillars. “
He said, “India’s healthcare system, sub-centres and primary health centers subsidize the primary level of HCS, community health centers contribute to the secondary level of HCS, although hospitals and medical colleges are considered to be in the tertiary level of HCS.” Population norms, rural health care infrastructure are given on the next page.”
The petitioner has further submitted that the suggested holistic integrative medicinal approach would favor the economically disadvantaged section of the Indian population, as the approach would be pocket friendly with high reach and would be able to cover such a large dense population of the country.
The petition states, “In order to establish an integrated medicinal system, the government has already made certain amendments to enable these provisions to become part of the health care policies. But the strategies adopted so far are in line with an integrated medicinal approach.” are not sufficient to provide an adequate platform for pharmacology. Therefore, it is imperative to make appropriate amendments to legitimize the status of the Integrated System of Medicine.”
–IANS
