AUM demands separate Directorate of ISM for Jammu

Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 6: Ayurved Utthan Mandal (AUM) has demanded separate Directorate of Indian System of Medicine (ISM) for Jammu.
The demand was discussed during a meeting of the AUM held here today under the chairmanship of Dr Rajneesh Chander Sharma. The meeting observed that Directorate of ISM was created in the year 1987 after a long struggle separating it from Allopathic department. The speakers said under a well thought strategy, slowly Ayurvedic System of medicine is being eliminated.
The speakers said, “As on today, there are total no of 504 dispensaries in ISM&H department. Out of these 504, 272 are Ayurvedic. 90 percent posts of Medical Officers in the district of Doda, Ramban, Kishatwar, Rajouri and Poonch are consumed by posting Unani doctors against the posts of Ayurvedic Medical Officers in Government Ayurvedic Dispensaries. Never the less 7 Unani doctors are posted in Jammu district whereas there is only one post of MO Unani. On the contrary only a few Ayurvedic doctors are posted in Kashmir Division against the 28 posts of Ayurvedic Medical Officers”.
They said while creating new 87 posts, discrimination is again done with Ayurved as 32 posts of MOs are given to Ayurved (25 in Jammu and 7 in Kashmir) whereas Unani is given 39 posts (35 in Kashmir and 4 in Jammu) and rest 16 posts are given to Homeopathy dividing evenly 8 each in Jammu and Kashmir.
The speakers said that Ayurved is being discriminated in the hands of religiously poisoned officers in administration. Citing examples, they said in 1987 when ISM department was separated from Health Department, a Unani doctor was made Director superseding the Ayurvedic doctor. “Under a well designed strategy, the nomenclature of posts as well as dispensary is being changed from Ayurvedic or Unani Dispensary to ISM dispensary and by this Ayurvedic posts and dispensaries are being converted to Unani,” they alleged.
Stating that due to darbar move, dispensaries in Jammu are ignored during summer and the dispensaries of Kashmir Division get ignored during winter, the members of AUM demanded bifurcation of Directorate of ISM into Directorate of ISM Jammu and Directorate of ISM Kashmir. They also demanded to post AYUSH doctors on all posts of ISM department.