Niti Aayog proposes draft bills for Indian System of Medicine, homoeopathy

NEW DELHI: Niti Aayog has come up with two draft legislations to regulate and promote Indian Systems of Medicine which include ayurveda, yoga and naturopathy, and homoeopathy.

The draft bills, prepared by a committee under Niti Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya, has suggested creation of apex councils and boards to deal with issues concerning different streams of Indian Systems of Medicine as well as homeopathy.

The draft National Commission for Indian Systems of Medicine (NCISM) Bill, 2017 will cover Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Sowa-Rigpa, Yoga and Naturopathy.

The draft National Commission for Homoeopathy Act, 2017 will also cover biochemical remedies.

Among other things, these two bills seek to ensure adequate supply of high quality medical professions for the Indian stream of medicine at both under graduate and postgraduate levels and promote research.

The bills also provide for maintenance of registers for professionals engaged in Indian System of Medicine and homeopathy.

As per the NCISM bill, the central government shall constitute a commission, to be called the National Commission for Indian Systems of Medicine.

The Commission shall comprise a Chairperson, a Member Secretary, 13 ex-officio members and 14 part-time members.

According to the draft NCISM bill, the central government shall also constitute a council to be called the Advisory Council for Indian Systems of Medicine (ACISM).

It further said the central government shall, by notification, will establish a body to be called the Board of Yoga & Naturopathy (BYN) to determine and prescribe standards and oversee all aspects of medical education at all levels for Yoga and Naturopathy.

As per the National Council for Homoeopathy (NCH) Bill, 2017, the central government shall constitute a council to be called the Advisory Council for Homoeopathy (ACH).

The central government shall also constitute a Commission, to be called the National Commission for Homoeopathy.

Recently, Panagariya led panel has also proposed to replace the Medical Council of India by a National Medical Commission.

The government has constituted a Group of Ministers (GoM) under Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to look into concerns raised by some states and stakeholders over the draft National Medical Commission Bill 2016.