Hyderabad: Land sought for global centre for traditional medicine in city
Union Minister Kishan Reddy
Hyderabad: After the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced the setting up of the Global Centre of Traditional Medicine in India, and the Ministry of AYUSH considered Hyderabad as the place to set up the centre and requested support from the State government, G Kishan Reddy, Minister of Culture, Tourism and Development of North Eastern Region on Friday wrote a letter to Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao requesting him to provide land for the establishment of the global centre in Hyderabad.
Reddy, in his letter said, "It is my strong belief that the setting up of a global centre of traditional medicine in Hyderabad will benefit the city and the state."
He requested the Chief Minister to resolve the pending issues related to the identification of land and identify suitable land so that the centre can be set up at the earliest.
Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi backed the Indian traditional medicine sector. Following the proposal from the PMO, the State government has focused on acquiring about 40-50 acres for the centre here.
AYUSH Commissioner VS Alugu Varsini also wrote to the State Health Secretary giving details about the centre. She mentioned it would give a boom to Indian medicine and many opportunities to students pursuing education and research in Ayurveda, yoga, naturopathy, siddha, sowa-rigpa and homeopathy, offered by the AYUSH Ministry.
The International Traditional Medicine Centre is being built by the WHO, which also takes care of management responsibilities. The medical community feels that the location of such a prestigious institution in the State in the aftermath of Covid is a welcome development.
At a recent virtual meeting of the State MPs with the Prime Minister, Union Minister G Kishan Reddy reminded Modi that there were prestigious centres like CCMB, IICT, University of Hyderabad, IIT Hyderabad, DRDO in the city. Therefore, there will be no difficulty in setting up an international centre for traditional medicine in Hyderabad. Modi responded positively and issued orders to that effect.