The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Siddha institute will be functional soon: Anbumani

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jul 04, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Siddha institute will be functional soon: Anbumani

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, JULY 3. The National Institute of Siddha, being established by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, at a cost of Rs. 47 crores in the suburban Tambaram will become functional in a few months.

Stating this here today, R. Anbumani, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, said the institute would offer postgraduate-level education in five subjects and have a 120-bed hospital to treat patients. Inaugurating the third (two-day) national Siddha conference, organised by the Tamil Nadu Siddha Graduates Association, he said the institute was part of an effort by the Ministry to promote the Indian system of medicine. Increasing funding for Siddha from the Central Council for Research in Ayurveda, including it in the upcoming "traditional knowledge digital library" and granting subsidies to non-government organisations undertaking medicinal plant cultivation were some the other initiatives. Dr. Anbumani said the Ministry's decision to rename the Department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy Department of Indian Systems of Medicine would be placed before the Cabinet. The Siddha wing of the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences would be revived.

Describing Siddha as a form of treatment without any side effect, the Minister, an allopathic doctor, said the Centre would take initiatives to popularise the system. It would also create the right "environment" for young Siddha doctors to pursue research, especially in AIDS, tuberculosis and diabetes.

G.K. Vasan, member of Parliament and president of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee, said Siddha, which had its roots in the State, should not be allowed to decay. C.N. Deivanayagam, Health India Foundation president, said the benefit of the traditional system of medicine was derived from the holistic approach it followed in treatment, whereas modern systems adopted a "reductionistic" apporach.

P. Jaiprakash Narayanan, former vice-principal of Government Siddha College and T. Velayudham, secretary of the graduates association, called for measures to popularise Siddha and setting up of colleges in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkatta and Bangalore.

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