The Government will not hesitate to introduce more effective and rigid rules to protect Ayurveda, said Health Minister P Sankaran during the Founder's Day celebrations of the Kerala Ayurveda Pharmacy Ltd (KAPL) at the Priyadarsini Town Hall here on Sunday.

The Government is aware of the unqualified, ill-experienced and unethical persons infiltrating into Ayurveda under the guise of health tourism, defaming the Ayurvedic system and creating bad impression amongst foreigners. Ayurveda community should be vigilant against the unholy practices maligning the image of the system, the Minister said. "We should work hard to generate top-quality Ayurveda doctors," he added.

The Government has sanctioned five more Ayurveda medical colleges this year. Post-graduate courses have been allowed at Kottackal and Kannur and another one will soon be sanctioned at Tripunithura. Pizhichil and Injavarakizhi are much sought after in other parts of the country and abroad. "Instead of preaching about the Ayurveda system, we should convince the modern world that Ayurveda is a better system to cure and manage many chronic ailments without ambiguity and dubiousness," he said.

Minister Sankaran appreciated KAPL for the initiative taken by it in the field of herbal cultivation, developing qualitative physicians and paramedical staff and conducting research and development in Ayurveda.

Presiding over the function, KAPL Managing Director Dr K Anilkumar called upon the Ayurveda fraternity to equip Ayurvedic doctors to meet the global standards. Paramedical staff should be trained properly. Only correct and valid information must be propagated among the public. Efforts must be taken to make foreign governments approve of Ayurveda. Instead of marketing clinical Ayurveda medicines as food supplements, attempts should be made to license them as medicines. Foreign countries would discard Ayurveda as a useless system, if proper care is not taken to protect it, Dr Anilkumar said.

Dr K Rajagopal, member of director board of KAPL, who was nominated for the Padmasree, was honoured at the function.

Dr P R Sreevidya of Government Ayurveda College was chosen for Vaidyan K G K Panicker memorial award, consisting of a citation and a cash award of Rs 25,000, for the best outgoing graduate in Ayurveda from the universities in Kerala, during 2002. Dr K Girish delivered the Vaidyan K G K Panicker memorial oration.

Pamela Anna Mathew launched the on-line awareness programme on ayurveda. Dr R V Jayakumar, Dr N V Sreevaths and Prof K S Kumari presented papers at scientific seminar.