Ayush Services Expand in Rural Odisha with Increased Doctors, Camps and Tele-Consultation
New Delhi / Kozhikode / Bhubaneswar, NFAPost: Union Minister of State for Ayush Pratap Rao Jadhav, in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, said National Ayush Mission (NAM) has allocated a total of Rs 285.66 crore fund to Kerala starting from FY 2023 to FY 2026 and strengthened service delivery via 700 welnes centres.
Under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of National Ayush Mission (NAM), the Central assistance provided to the State of Kerala during the last three years and the current year against the proposals received through State Annual Action Plans (SAAPs) is as below:
| Sl. No | Year | Amount (In lakhs) |
| 1 | 2022-23 | 4399.827 |
| 2 | 2023-24 | 7989.400 |
| 3 | 2024-25 | 11037.960 |
| 4 | 2025-26 | 5138.390 |
| Total | 28565.577 | |
As the Public Health is a State subject, the establishment of new Ayush wellness centres in Kerala comes under the purview of the respective State Governments.
“However, under NAM, as per the proposals received from the State Government of Kerala through SAAPs, Ministry of Ayush has approved for upgrading 700 sispensaries as Ayushman Arogya Mandir (Ayush),” said Union Minister of State for Ayush Pratap Rao Jadhav.
As reported by State Government, all 700 sispensaries as Ayushman Arogya Mandir (Ayush) will be operational and providing holistic healthcare to the community through different Ayush interventions, including Yoga.
For promotion and propagation of Medical Value Travel (MVT), Union Minister of State for Ayush Pratap Rao Jadhav also said Ministry of Ayush has successfully organised an Ayush MVT Summit for the South Zone on 26th May 2025 in Chennai with participation from the States of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
Ayush Services Expand in Rural Odisha
To another question, Union Minister of State for Ayush Pratap Rao Jadhav said Ayush Services expanded its operation in rural Odisha with increased doctors, camps and tele-consultation.
“As reported by State Government of Odisha, 584 Ayurvedic Medical Officers, 525 Homoeopathic Medical Officers and 2 Unani Medical Officers are appointed at Government Ayurvedic / Homoeopathic / Unani Dispensaries in the State, including rural and tribal areas of Odisha,” said Union Minister of State for Ayush Pratap Rao Jadhav .
Union Minister of State for Ayush Pratap Rao Jadhav also said Induction Training programs for newly appointed Government Ayurvedic/Homoeopathic Medical officers and Ayush assistants are being implemented.
“Further, Refresher Training programs for Government Ayurvedic/Homoeopathic Medical officers, appointed as Community Health Officers (CHOs) at 422 Ayushman Arogya Mandir (Ayush) of the State, are being conducted,” said Union Minister of State for Ayush Pratap Rao Jadhav.
The Minister also stated that Tele-AYUSH facilities have been introduced in Odisha. “This service has been implemented through e-Sanjeevani platform involving 50 nos. of Ayushman Arogya Mandir (Ayush) as Spoke and Dr. Abhin Chandra Homoeopathic Medical College & Hospital, Bhubaneswar, Gopabandhu Ayurveda Mahavidyalaya, Puri as Hub,” said Union Minister of State for Ayush Pratap Rao Jadhav.
Cultivation of medicinal plants in tribal areas
Union Minister of State for Ayush Pratap Rao Jadhav said The National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB), under the Ministry of Ayush is presently implementing “Central Sector Scheme for Conservation, Development and Sustainable Management of Medicinal Plants” throughout the country, including the State of Odisha.
Under the scheme, the project-based support is provided for the following activities:
- In-situ conservation through the development of Medicinal Plants Conservation and Development Areas (MPCDAs).
- In-situ/Ex-situ resource augmentation.
- Ex-situ conservation through establishment of herbal gardens.
- Livelihood linkages with Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs) / Panchayats / Van Panchayats / Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) / Self Help Groups (SHGs) etc.
- IEC activities like Training / workshops / Seminars/ Conferences etc.
- Research & Development.
- Promotion of marketing and trade of medicinal plants produce.
- Forward and backward linkage in the supply chain of medicinal plants.
The activity wise number of projects supported under the above scheme in state of Odisha including Mayurbhanj District are as below:
| Sr. No. | Activities Supported | No. of Project Supported | No. of project supported in Mayurbhanj District |
| 1. | Conservation, Resource Augmentation and support to Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs) etc. | 27 | – |
| 2. | Herbal Garden | 10 | 01 |
| 3. | Nursery/Quality Planting Material/ species specific campaign | 06 | 01 |
| 4. | Information Education & Communication (IEC) | 16 | – |
| 5. | Research and Development (R&D) | 02 | – |
| 6. | Activities supported through Regional Cum Facilitation Centers (East Region) of NMPB i. Stakeholders Meet ii. Training Programmes | 06 11 | – 02 |
Under the above Central Sector Scheme, Union Minister of State for Ayush Pratap Rao Jadhav said project based support is provided through State Forest Departments to Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs)/Panchayats/ Van Panchayat/SHGs/BMCs etc. for setting of local cluster for value addition, drying, warehousing and augmenting marketing infrastructure etc. and generate livelihood to these forest fringe communities including tribal farmers.
“These initiatives / activities supported under the above Central Sector Scheme have helped in promoting cultivation, Conservation and livelihood opportunities for farmers, including those from tribal regions,” said Union Minister of State for Ayush Pratap Rao Jadhav.
The Minister also said to strengthen medicinal plants cultivation, market access, and income enhancement of the farmers across the country, including tribal regions, NMPB, Ministry of Ayush, through its Regional Cum Facilitation Centres (RCFCs) provide Quality Planting Material (QPM) of medicinal plants and impart training on Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and Good Field Collection Practices (GFCPs).
“In addition, the Government of Odisha has taken steps by conducting awareness programmes through training/ seminars/ workshops, State-level & Regional-level Kalinga Herbal Fairs, distribution of IEC materials and exposure visit to strengthen medicinal plant cultivation, market access and income enhancement in tribal regions. The State Medicinal Plants Board, Odisha, is also providing technical support for the cultivation of medicinal plants,” said Union Minister of State for Ayush Pratap Rao Jadhav.
To provide a platform for trade of medicinal plants & easy market access, Union Minister of State for Ayush Pratap Rao Jadhav said the NMPB, Ministry of Ayush, has launched “e-CHARAK” mobile application as well as web portal for the promotion and marketing of medicinal plants/herbs.
“The “e-CHARAK” is a platform to enable information exchange between various stakeholders mainly farmers involved in the medicinal plants sector across the country. The “e-CHARAK” application supports different local languages and it also provides a fortnightly market price of 100 MPs from 25 herbal markets across India,” said Union Minister of State for Ayush Pratap Rao Jadhav.
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