'Ayurveda is India's ancient tradition and wealth'

New Delhi: Ayurveda is India’s ancient tradition and wealth and it can be nurtured in association with the people living in forests, Union tribal affairs minister Arjun Munda said on Sunday.

He was speaking at the 7th Ayurveda Day event at the Vigyan Bhawan which saw participation of several dignitaries and experts.

On the occasion, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the ministry of AYUSH and the ministry of tribal affairs to explore the areas of collaboration, convergence and synergy for tribal development while preserving the tribal culture heritage through evidence-based planning and capacity building.

This year’s Ayurveda Day was celebrated with the theme “Har Din Har Ghar Ayurveda” so as to propagate the benefits of Ayurveda to a larger and grassroots community.

The six-week-long celebrations saw huge participation from across the country, more than 5,000 events were organised by institutes and councils of the ministry of AYUSH with the support of more than 26 central ministries, missions and embassies.

Munda, who was the chief guest at the event, said, “Ayurveda is India’s ancient tradition and wealth. Ayurveda can be nurtured in association with the people living in forests. Ayurveda is the only medical science that talks about prevention of disease, not treatment after getting sick.”

On the occasion, Union minister of Ayush Sarbananda Sonowal said, “Ayurveda is a science of prevention of disease. It’s an ancient knowledge and we are doing some impressive research work in Ayush sector.”

Union minister of state for ayush Munjpara Mahendrabhai Kalubhai said, “We have accelerated the Ayush system of health in the country, Ayurveda is now recognized in 30 countries. The current turnover of Ayush is 18.1 billion dollars.”

Meenakshi Lekhi, Union minister of state of external affairs and culture, underlined that it’s time to appreciate the science of our ancestors.

Dr Tanuja Manoj Nesari, director of All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), said the ‘I Support Ayurveda’ campaign got enormous support with more than 1.7 crore people participating in it. More than 56 lakh people participated in various programmes on the occasion of Ayurveda Day.

To create awareness about the health benefits of medicinal plants, a species-specific national campaign on ‘Ashwagandha – A health promoter’ was launched by the ministry of AYUSH at the event.