The Central Government is planning to set up a Rs 50 crore Regional Institute of AYUSH at Arunachal Pradesh, which will be the first major ISM research institute and medical college for the traditional Indian systems of medicine in the North Eastern region of the country.

The Department of AYUSH, along with the Arunachal Pradesh Government will set up the 150-bedded hospital for Ayurveda and Homeopathy. It is learnt that the Government of Arunachal Pradesh has agreed to offer 11,000 sq.ft of land at Pasighat to set up the Regional Institute of AYUSH. The land valued Rs 15 crore will be offered free by the State Government, as its contribution for setting up the institute.

The medical college will have an intake of 75 students for the Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) course per year. Besides, the college will also conduct a three-year Postgraduate course in Homeopathy with an intake of 20 students. Further, it is also proposed to start a one-year diploma courses in naturopathy and yoga, besides six months certificate courses in pharmacy and nursing.

A few months ago, a high level delegation of central ISM officials led by the Advisor (Ayurveda) and Advisor (Homeopathy) had visited the state and held discussions in this regard with the state Chief Minister and Chief Secretary, according to sources.

It is to be noted that setting up of a major ayurvedic research institution and medical college in the northeastern region has been a long pending demand of the ayurvedic community in the country. While there are 89 Ayurvedic, 30 unani and six Siddha national and regional research centers are functioning under the Department of AYUSH in different parts of the country, no major institutions were so far established in the northeastern region.

Similarly, only four Ayurveda medical colleges are functioning in the north eastern region, compared to the 108 medical colleges in North India and 85 in South India, out of a total of 203 Ayurvedic medical colleges in the country. State wise, Karnataka and Maharashtra have the largest concentration of Ayurvedic medical colleges in India, with 47 and 57 medical colleges respectively.