Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Jan 10 : Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh disclosed today that Jammu & Kashmir’s first Homeopathic Medical College has been proposed for Kathua and the matter is being pursued with the Union Ministry of AYUSH.
A public demand for Homeopathic College had been pending for several decades but none of the earlier Governments or public representatives took a serious cognizance of it over the last 70 years, he said.
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi giving special impetus to indegenious and alternative systems of medicine and with the Modi Government setting up a separate Ministry of AYUSH and getting International Day of Yoga approved by the United Nations, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the irony is that Jammu & Kashmir is yet to get its first Homeopathic College. He further informed that the matter is being actively pursued and he is personally in touch with the Union AYUSH Minister Shripad Naik.
Dr. Jitendra Singh was informed that the Union Territory Government of Jammu & Kashmir had identified land measuring over 60 Kanals in district and tehsil Kathua. After the approval of the Union Ministry of AYUSH, the piece of land will be formally handed over to the Directorate, Indian System of Medicine, Jammu & Kashmir and further process of establishing the College will start.
With the setting up of the first-ever Homeopathic College in Jammu & Kashmir, either in government or private sector, Dr. Jitendra Singh said, it will offer options to the aspirant students who were earlier travelling to other States for Homeopathy Degree. The college, he said, will also cater to adjoining districts of the neighbouring States.
Dr. Jitendra Singh recalled that the Ayurvedic College in Jammu was also revived three years back after a lapse of nearly four decades and the Unani College in Srinagar was possibly among the first in the entire subcontinent to have started a Postgraduate degree course. The first-ever National Institute of High Altitude Medicine, under the aegis of Ministry of AYUSH, is coming up at Bhaderwah, he added.
Meanwhile, Managing Director, National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd.(NAFED) Sanjeev Kumar Chadda called on Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh and briefed him about the MoU signed with the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir for creation of post-harvest infrastructure in the form of cold atmosphere and processing facilities.
High density plantation of fruits like apple, Walnut, Almonds will also be undertaken in Union Territory and the investment for creation of infrastructure will be around Rs.500 Crore.
Appreciating the initiative, Dr. Jitendra Singh said, this will be in keeping with Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana(PMGKY) and Atmanirbhar Bharat. Along with the new industrial policy recently announced, this will augment revenue and generation of livelihood in the Union Territory.