Ayurvedic College in Jammu
Jammu region in general and Jammu city in particular has a remarkable history of putting indigenous medical system into practical use from olden days when the Allopathic system had not become very popular.  Ayurveda is the ancient medical theory which India had developed indigenously from Vedic times. In fact one of the four Vedas namely Atharva Veda is entirely devoted to the medical theory which Indian sages and savants had formulated and made popular in our country. This is called Ayurveda. Literally Ayurveda means science of extended life. According to Atharva Veda, Ayurveda takes into account two aspects of human entity, the body and the mind. The simplest theory of Ayurveda is that human spirit and mind need as much attention and care as the body and unless the two go together hand in hand, health cannot be guaranteed. There are still millions of people in our country who have unstinted faith in Ayurveda as the best and safest system of medical science. In Kerala, for example, Ayurveda system has gained enormous popularity essentially because this science lays stress on natural and herbal cure which cause very ignorable side effect of medication in comparison to Allopathic medication.
Actually it was Maharaja Ranbir Singh who had evinced keen interest in Ayurveda system of medicine and had also ordered setting up of Chikitsalya or dispensaries where practitioners in indigenous medicine treated the patients. In 1962 the State Government opened Ayurvedic College and Hospital but this had to be closed down about thirteen years later. Nevertheless the Jammu people have been insisting on reopening the Ayurvedic College and Hospital because Jammu would not want to lose the tradition and liking for this system of medication as it has been in place from ancient times and is proven to be a system of medication without side effects.
Union Ayush Ministry ultimately responded to the persistent requests of the State Government and in the year 2009 sanction was accorded to the establishment of an Ayurvedic College with Hospital in Jammu. The building for this purpose has come up in Akhnoor at a cost of 2600 lakh rupees and only some furnishing remains to be completed. However, after so many hassles and bottlenecks, a last hitch is hitting the entire project and it is just possible if that hitch is not overcome the college and hospital may not see the light of the day for next four or five years. That is inadvisable and detrimental to the interests of the people of Jammu.
The difficulty that has cropped up is about the lack of faculties for the college. Actually, the State Department of Health and Medical Education has been sleeping over the matter for a long time. It should have begun the process of recruitment of faculties immediately when the Letter of Intent had been received from the Central Council of Indian Medicines or the Ministry of Ayush. Now the team of the Council will be visiting the project and the issuance of LoP or Letter of Practice can be issued only when the team recommends that the institute is prepared in all respects to admit 50 students for the academic year 2017-18. Under rules if the State is not able to obtain the LoP within two years, the LoI lapses and then it will take the state at least four more years to wait and restart the process. This is a grim situation. Jammu citizenry does not want to lose the chance and thus get deprived of the facility.
In this connection we would suggest to the Department of Health and Medical Education to hire faculties on contract basis to kick-start the work. Even retired faculties can be hired under special provisions. This arrangement could be made for three years in the initial stage and if the College is able to produce qualified faculties within that period the issue can be resolved by making regular recruitment. After all, the practice of re-employing the superannuated experts is not something new with our Government. In no case shall people like that this opportunity slips out of their hands.

Follow our WhatsApp channel