The Ayush Department of the Union Health Ministry has in principle decided to set up the headquarters of the proposed Central Council for Research in Siddha (CCRS) in the state capital of Tami Nadu, said B Anand, joint secretary Department of Ayush.

Currently the national level research council of Siddha system comes under the Central Council for Research in Ayurveda and Siddha (CCRAS) functioning under Ayush department, New Delhi. The CCRAS was established in 1978.

While sharing information with Pharmabiz, B Anand said the Department has got the Union Cabinet’s approval for the establishment of a separate Central Council for Siddha Research last week The Council will be in the form of a research institute for Siddha medicines.

When asked what would be the status of the existing National Institute of Siddha based in Chennai when the Central Council begins operation, the joint secretary replied that it would function as an educational institution mainly for PG and Ph D courses. He added that the present CCRAS will further act as a centre for ayurvedic research.

When the proposed Siddha Council is formed, the existing clinical research units in Siddha at Chennai, Pondicherry, Palayamkottai, Thiruvananthapuram and the Survey of Medicinal Plants Unit & Siddha Medicinal Plants garden at Mettur will be brought under the Council. To a question he said a person in the rank of joint secretary in the Ayush Department will head the institute as its Director General. Regarding structure and pattern of the central council, he said, the department is now engaged in working out all the plans.

“The Siddha system is mostly practised in Tamil Nadu and in Kerala. Tamil Nadu is considered to be the hub of Siddha medicines. We cannot do anything from here sitting in Delhi. If the Central Council comes in Chennai it will be helpful and encouraging for the development of the system. That is why we have decided to set up the headquarters in Chennai,” he told this reporter.

But the decision of the government to set up the headquarters in Chennai has created some kind of uproar in the industry and among the doctors community in Tamil Nadu. Some Siddha doctors say if the headquarters come in Chennai, the Council will become a regional council. One Siddha doctor has gone to the extent of declaring that he would fight against the move.

While welcoming the initiative of Ayush in establishing a separate central council for Siddha medicine, Dr Joseph Thas, president of the Friends of Siddha Medicine, a society registered for the purpose of developing this system, said the Council is born with some ‘congenital abnormality’ as the authorities are satisfying somebody’s vested interest by setting up the headquarters in Chennai. He wanted the authorities to set up the head quarter in New Delhi as every national agency’s central offices is working in the national capital. He further said he would oppose the move of the Ayush Department if they stick on their decision to establish the council basing in Chennai. However, he welcomed the establishment of a separate Central Council for Siddha.