"India-EU FTA and Budget push AYUSH systems toward global mainstream"
AYUSH
Acronym for Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Homoeopathy; India's traditional medicine systems under a dedicated Ministry.
TCAM
Traditional, Complementary, and Alternative Medicine; WHO's umbrella term for non-biomedical health systems evaluated under international regulatory frameworks.
India's traditional medicine systems — Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy, collectively branded as AYUSH — have been practised for millennia but were institutionally marginalised during the colonial period, when biomedicine was privileged as the official health paradigm. Post-independence, the Indian Medicine Central Council Act, 1970 and the Homoeopathy Central Council Act, 1973 provided statutory recognition to these systems, but they remained underfunded relative to allopathic medicine. A structural shift came with the creation of a dedicated Ministry of AYUSH in 2014, signalling a policy intent to mainstream traditional medicine rather than treat it as a peripheral complement.
The regulatory architecture for AYUSH products is governed primarily by the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, which has separate schedules for Ayurvedic, Siddha, and Unani drugs. The Pharmacopoeia Commission for Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy (PCIMH) sets quality standards, while the National AYUSH Mission (NAM), launched under the National Health Mission framework, channels central funds to states for infrastructure, manpower, and drug availability. Over the past five years, the Ministry's budget has nearly doubled, reaching ₹4,408 crore in the current financial year — a trajectory that reflects both political prioritisation and growing domestic demand for integrative healthcare.
The AYUSH ecosystem operates across three distinct dimensions: clinical practice, manufacturing and exports, and research. On the clinical side, AYUSH practitioners are licensed under state medical councils, and the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine Act, 2020 replaced the older Central Council to modernise education standards. On the manufacturing side, India is one of the world's largest producers of herbal and traditional medicine products, with exports running into thousands of crores annually — a sector that competes with Chinese traditional medicine and European herbal products in global markets.
The research dimension is the most contested. Traditional, Complementary, and Alternative Medicine (TCAM) systems are built on epistemological frameworks that differ fundamentally from biomedical science. Ayurveda, for instance, conceptualises the body not as a collection of discrete organs but as an interdependent system shaped by constitution (prakriti), environment, diet, and season. …
With reference to Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, consider the following statements:
1.Private and public hospitals must adopt it.
2.As it aims to achieve universal health coverage, every citizen of India should be part of it ultimately.
3.It has seamless portability across the country.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Which of the following best describes the Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive (THMPD) in the context of India's AYUSH exports?
Consider the following statements regarding the epistemological basis of Ayurveda as discussed in the context of TCAM regulation:
1.Ayurveda conceptualises the body as an interdependent system shaped by constitution, environment, diet, and season.
2.Biomedicine and Ayurveda share the same foundational methodology of anatomical localisation.
3.The systemic logic of TCAM systems creates methodological challenges for standard randomised controlled trial (RCT) evaluation.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Assertion (A): India's AYUSH research faces a structural conflict of interest that undermines its global credibility.
Reason (R): Much of the research on AYUSH systems is funded, designed, or overseen by the same Ministry that is mandated to promote AYUSH.
Which of the following is correct?
Which of the following legislative instruments governs the quality and safety standards for Ayurvedic, Siddha, and Unani drugs in India?
Want the full note, Prelims Facts & MCQ answers?
Create a free account — takes less than a minute.
Create free account