The Centre has approved the Indian Medicine Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2009 for amending the Indian Medicine Central Council Act, 1970 to recognise the Sowa-Rigpa system of medicine, popular in the Himalayan region of India.

According to sources, as the Bill has got the approval of the union cabinet, it will be introduced in Parliament in its next session which is scheduled to meet somewhere in November. 'Sowa-Rigpa', commonly known as 'Amchi', is one of the oldest surviving systems of medicine in the world, popular in the Himalayan region of India.

Once the Bill gets Parliament nod, the system of 'Sowa-Rigpa' will get legal status in the country. To confer legal status to 'Sowa-Rigpa', amendments to Section 2,3,8,9 and 17 of the Indian Medicine Central Council Act 1970, need to be carried out. The proposed amendments shall give effect to the inclusion of 'Sowa-Rigpa' under Sections 2,3,8,9 and 17 of the Indian Medicine Central Council Act, 1970 thereby recognizing this system legally.

In India this system is practiced in Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Darjeeling (West Bengal), Lahoul and Spiti (Himachal Pradesh) and Ladakh region of Jammu & Kashmir.

The theory and practices of 'Sowa-Rigpa' are similar to Ayurveda, and also include few principles of traditional Chinese medicine. The fundamental text book rgyud-bzi of 'Sowa-Rigpa' is believed to have been taught by Buddha himself and is closely linked with Buddhist philosophy.

It is expected that the legal recognition of 'Sowa-Rigpa' will lead to the protection and preservation of this ancient system of medicine and will help in its propagation and development. This will also open new vistas leading to collaborative research and scientific validation of the 'Sowa-Rigpa' system, besides conservation and protection of the medicinal plants/minerals used in the system. The recognition of 'Sowa-Rigpa' will also lead to the setting up of a mechanism to regulate the education and practice of 'Sowa-Rigpa'.