JIPMER MBBS-BAMS Plan: Are statutory bodies being left out? RTIs reveal gaps

Puducherry: Despite the initial buzz regarding the proposed MBBS Ayurveda integrated course at the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), there has been very little progress on the matter to turn it into a reality, revealed the response from JIPMER, National Medical Commission and the Union Health Ministry while responding to Right to Information (RTI) queries.

Moreover, the file notings from the Union Health Ministry showed that the proposal for setting up the institute to teach the MBBS-BAMS integrated course came from the Auroville Foundation in January 2024. Consequently, JIPMER, in collaboration with Ayurvedic universities, prepared a draft curriculum for the proposed integral medical education to grant the dual degrees of MBBS and BAMS.

Expressing concern about the issue, Dr. KV Babu, a Kerala-based Health Activist, who filed these RTIs, told Medical Dialogues, "It is worrying that the proposal came from outside agencies, while the statutory bodies do not have any idea about this."

The NMC Act, 2019 requires the Commission to have a joint meeting with the Central Council of Homoeopathy and the Central Council of Indian Medicine at least once a year but no such meetings were conducted in 2024 & 2025.

Also Read: Breaking: JIPMER to launch India's first integrated MBBS-BAMS course

Proposal for the MBBS Ayurveda Course came from Auroville Foundation:

The file notings from the Union Health Ministry showed that the proposal for such an integrated course was actually from Auroville Foundation, a statutory (autonomous) body under the Government of India.

Jayanti S Ravi, who was appointed as Secretary, Auroville Foundation in Tamil Nadu, on deputation in June 2021, wrote to the Union Health Ministry stating that Auroville Foundation, which comes under Ministry of HRD, "has undertaken an effort to integrate both the systems of medicine (Ayurveda and Modern) to have a holistic approach to health care and many discussions have been held over the last several months to take the proposal forward."

Further, it was stated that in collaboration with some Ayurvedic universities and JIPMER, a draft curriculum was prepared for the proposed integral medical education to grant dual degrees of MBBS and BAMS.

"The curricula are now being fine-tuned for detailed integrating methodology of the two streams of science," mentioned the communication.

Response from JIPMER:

When JIPMER was asked to share the details of the proposal to the integrated medical course combining MBBS and BAMS, and the communications between JIPMER and the Union Health Ministry/AYUSH Ministry/NMC regarding the proposal, it said that such records and communications were unavailable and therefore could not be provided.

"The requested information of such records/communications are not available in the office of the CPIO, Academic Section. Hence, the requested information cannot be provided under Section 2(f) of the RTI Act, 2005," JIPMER said while responding to the RTI queries raised by Dr. Babu.

No Joint Meeting between Statutory Bodies in the Last Two Years:

Under the NMC Act, 2019, NMC, the Central Council of Homoeopathy and the Central Council of Indian Medicine are required to have a joint sitting at least once a year, to "enhance interface between Homoeopathy, Indian Systems of Medicine and modern systems of medicine", and "approving specific educational modules or programmes that may be introduced in the undergraduate course and the postgraduate course across medical systems and promote medical pluralism."

Therefore, it is the responsibility of statutory bodies like NMC, CCH, and CCIM to design such integrated educational modules. However, NMC on 26.06.2025 responded to the RTI stating that "The third joint meeting of NMC, NCISM (National Commission for Indian System of Medicine) and NCH (National Commission for Homeopathy) was earlier proposed to be held on September 23, 2024. However, due to non-availability communicated by NCISM the same could not be held and the matter regarding convening the meeting in 2025 has not yet been decided."

Speaking to Medical Dialogues, Dr. KV Babu said, "There are many questions raised. Based on which law, the Ministry is planning to start an integrated course? Why has the NMC, which regulates education in modern medicine, been kept in the dark for more than one and a half years? What is the role of NMC if the Govt is implementing /enforcing such decisions without any discussions with various stakeholders? Mixing science with non-science seems to be taken at the political level in our country."

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the announcement regarding India's first integrated MBBS and BAMS course at JIPMER, Puducherry had sparked outrage among doctors nationwide.

Calling the Union Government's plans to mix different systems of medicine (Ayurveda and Modern Medicine) as "unscientific" and "Unfortunate", the Indian Medical Association (IMA) had demanded that the Government withdraw the "regressive proposal" in the interest of public health.

Also Read: Ayurveda-Allopathy Fusion Faces Backlash, Doctors urge Govt to reconsider JIPMER plan