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Panel concerned over progress of Aogusy scheme, recommends Ayurgyan scheme to cover basic research
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Gireesh Babu, New Delhi
April 12 , 2023
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The Parliamentary Panel on Health and Family Welfare has expressed its concern over the physical and financial progress of the Ayush Oushadhi Gunvatta Evam Uttpadan Samvardhan Yojana (Aogusy) scheme of the Ministry of Ayush, and advised strengthening of Central and state regulatory frameworks.
The Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare also recommended that the research and innovation component of the umbrella Central Sector Scheme Ayurgyan should be designed to encourage research and development (R&D) in priority areas based on disease burden and be aligned to the National Health Programme.
The Committee, in its recent report on the Demand for Grants of the Ministry of Ayush for the year 2023-24, said, “The Committee expresses its concern over the physical and financial progress of Aogusy as a result of which the targets set in strengthening and up-gradation of Ayush Pharmacies and Drug Testing Laboratories to achieve higher standards and Pharmacovigilance of Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathy drugs including surveillance of misleading advertisements suffered a lot and remains a far flung mission.”
The panel feels the need for strengthening of Central and State regulatory frameworks including Technical Human Resource & Capacity Building programs for Ayush drugs for Manufacturing of quality medicine from state and private pharmacies and NABL accreditation of Drugs Testing Laboratory.
There should be improved surveillance of adverse drug reactions through the National Pharmacovigilance Co-ordination Centre (NPvCC), Intermediary Pharmacovigilance Centres (IPvCs) and Peripheral Pharmacovigilance Centres (PPvCs). Moreover, the Committee recommended for effective implementation of the Drug and Cosmetic Act 1940 and rules 1945 at the grass-root level for successful implementation of the Aogusy scheme.
In order to get the support for development of standards and accreditation/ certification of Ayush products & materials, the collaboration with BIS, QCI and other relevant scientific institutions and industrial R&D centres is all the more necessary, it added.
The objective of the Aogusy Scheme is to enhance India’s manufacturing initiative of Atmanirbhar Bharat. The scheme aims to facilitate adequate infrastructural and technological upgradation and institutional activities in the public and private sector for standardization, quality manufacturing and analytical testing of Ayush drugs & materials. The scheme intends to strengthen regulatory frameworks at Central and State level for effective quality control, safety monitoring and surveillance of misleading advertisements of Ayush drugs. The scheme encourages building up synergies, collaborations and convergent approaches for promoting standards and quality of Ayush drugs & materials.
The panel observed that the approved total allocation to the scheme is Rs. 122 crore for five years and the scheme is currently valid up to March 31, 2026. The total outlay for the five years was Rs. 22.50 crore for the first year, Rs. 23.50 crore for the second and third year, Rs. 25 crore for the fourth year and Rs. 27.50 crore for the final year.
For the financial year 2021-22, the budget estimate was nil and the revised estimate allocated Rs. 10 crore for the scheme, out of which the actual utilisation was Rs. 1.77 crore. An amount to the tune of Rs. 23.50 crore was allocated in BE 2022-23 but the same has been reduced to Rs. 20 crore at the RE stage. The Ministry indicated that the reasons for variation is due to less allocation from the Ministry of Finance and less engagement of the programme management unit.
Commenting on the Ayurgyan scheme, which has two components including capacity building and continuing medical education (CME) in Ayush and Research and innovation in the sector, the committee said that it understands that the overall structure of the Scheme aims to encourage Ayush personnel to undergo need-based professional training and bridge the knowledge gaps.
The Committee, therefore, recommended the Ministry to give equitable impetus to all sub-component of the Capacity Building and Continuing Medical Education (CME) in Ayush. Underlining the vital role of Research and innovation in Ayush Drugs for prioritised diseases, it recommended collection of data on safety, standardisation and quality control for Ayush products and practices in order to develop evidence-based support on the efficacy of Ayush drugs and therapies.
“In order to inculcate scientific aptitude and expertise relating to Ayush systems, the Ministry should chalk out the strategy for development of potential human resource and its management in Ayush system,” said the panel headed by Member of Parliament Bhubaneswar Kalita.
The research and innovation component of Ayurgyan Scheme should be designed to encourage research & development in priority areas based on disease burden and be aligned to the National Health Programme.
“The Committee, in this response, highlights the priority areas of support that are fundamental research, basic principles, theories of Ayush systems, standardisation/validation of Ayush drugs and new drug development. The Committee further recommends that the outcome of the Research Scheme should successfully demonstrate the effectiveness of Ayush systems and the novel technology successfully developed out of such R&D must harness the potential of Ayush in the interest of public health delivery,” added the panel.
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