MODI 2.0 : Story of Converting a Department into a Ministry, PM Modi Highlighted India’s Strength Through ‘AYUSH’
What is ‘AYUSH’
In 1995, when the Congress had the Narasimha Rao government in the country, the Bharatiya Janata Party was emerging as a national party. During that time an organ was added to the Ministry of Health and this was the Department of Indian Medicine and Homeopathy (ISM and H). Its purpose was to recognize India’s old medical system, to have more and more research and development on it. In 2003, when Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s BJP government was in power, the name of this department was changed to ‘AYUSH’. AYUSH meant – Ayurveda, Yoga, (Naturopathy), Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy.
Prime Minister Modi brought big changes, did not forget Atal ji’s dream
After a long gap in 2014, once again the BJP government came to the center and this time the head was Narendra Modi. In the year 2003, with the purpose with which Atal ji gave importance to this department and named it AYUSH, this time it was the turn to take it a step further. A few months after coming to power, on 9 November 2014, the Modi government removed AYUSH from the status of a department and made it a ministry. A move so that AYUSH does not get lost in the mist of departments. For this, a good budget was passed so that the world can know the wonderful work that people have done in the field of medicine in the golden history of India.
The Ministry of AYUSH generally focused on the rural areas of India, aligning with some other schemes of the Modi government. Its main purpose is to treat complex diseases through Ayurveda, Unani and Homeopathy, which often take time, this treatment is cheap, so it became a good option for people in rural areas. Apart from this, the propagation of Yoga has been going on since 2014.
The Ministry of AYUSH keeps preparing its plans according to the different regions in the coming days, because a survey showed that there is a demand for different options in India, at different places. If there is a high demand for Ayurveda in the southern regions, then Yunani (or Unani) is the first choice in Hyderabad, while Bengal and Odisha chooses Homeopathy. Gradually, this ministry seems to be successful in bringing Ayurveda and Yoga to such a level that people have started benefiting from it.
Important Role in Corona Era during Modi Government 2.0
Till now the Ministry of AYUSH was increasing its work behind the scenes in the rural areas of India and it was being publicized in the cities. But the coronavirus epidemic has placed a significant responsibility on this ministry and it is also getting a chance to show its role. The main objective of AYUSH is to strengthen people’s immunity. For this, such medicines are available in AYUSH which not only give strength to fight diseases, but its side effects are also equal to zero.
Whether it is yoga or medicines made from plants, by preparing the decoction (kadha) from the small things in your kitchen to strengthening family from the inside or making people aware of drinking hot water and other essential things, all these in the Corona era, the Ministry of AYUSH has campaigned fiercely. This also gave a new flight to those doctors, who were feeling that their skills were being missing somewhere. The discussion of this ministry was also fierce in the foreign media, and now, apart from chemical made medicines, foreigners also want to adopt Ayurveda in the same way as they adopted Yoga. Journey from a department to a ministry, now through AYUSH, Indians have got a chance to protect the legacy of their own country.