PM Prachanda vows to upgrade Singhdurbar Vaidyakhana

Prime Minister Pushpakamal Dahal “Prachanda” has announced that Nepal government would work towards further promoting ayurvedic medicine in the country and policy-level decisions would be taken taken to system

atise the imports and exports of the most essential medicinal herbs.

Inaugurating the 7th International Ayurveda Congress in Kathmandu on Friday, the Prime Minister assured to make the 300-year-old Singhdurbar Vaidyakhana (currently known as Singhdurbar Vaidyakhana Bikash Samiti) vibrant and upgrade it as a national pride project.

“Policy decisions will be taken bearing in mind the need to operate the National Ayurveda Research and Training Centre in full fledge and intensify research on indigenous herbs,” the Prime Minister informed.

“The government was working on a policy to establish a centre for manufacturing ayurvedic medicines and collecting and processing medicinal herbs at each of the seven provinces while promising some policy decisions to remove hurdles in the imports and exports of most essential medicinal herbs so as to facilitate the manufacturing of ayurvedic medicines.”

The Prime Minister also promised that an atmosphere would be created for exporting medicinal herbs and assured of government grants for farming herbs.

“We should focus on establishing Ayurvedic hospitals, funding exploration and research on Ayurvedic medicines, start manufacturing Ayurvedic medicines in large scale and promote Ayurvedic education,” said the Prime Minister.

He also underlined on the need for establishing more Ayurvedic hospitals, wellness clinics, and yoga and meditation centres with a view to promoting health tourism in Nepal and added that a policy decision has been already taken towards this direction. He also informed about the government’s plan to establish a 100-bed Ayurveda hospital in all seven provinces.

The Prime Minister also sought cooperation from the Ministry of Ayush of India for Nepal to continue the research and explortion on Ayurveda that the Government of India has put in high priority.

On the occasion, Ambassador of India to Nepal Naveen Srivastava said the government of India led by Narendra Modi has prioritised and promoted Ayurveda by establishing the Ministry of Ayush. Some initiatives have already been taken to forge cooperation and collaboration between the two countries in promoting Ayurveda and naturopathy as also to produce medicinal herbs.