An alliance of graduates and post-graduates in Siddha doing research work at the Centre for Traditional Medicines and Research (CTMR) in Chennai has urged the Union minister for Ayush to look into the possibility of shifting the headquarters of the Central Council of Research in Siddha (CCRS) to New Delhi as the functioning of the head office at Tambaram near Chennai has become a hurdle to the growth of the system and it has not risen up to the level as expected, even after four years.

The Siddha group highlights one major drawback that the establishment of the office in Chennai in 2010, after bifurcating the Central Council of Research in Siddha and Ayurveda (CCRAS) into CCRS and CCRA, has not helped in any way the growth of researches in the traditional system of Siddha, but only adversely affected the development of the research council.  The major reason for this flaw is that the head office of the research council is located away from the national capital where all other councils are positioned. This separation not only makes the operations of the director general (DG) of the Council arduous, but also puts other offices attached with it into trouble.

According to them, if the head office is set up in New Delhi, the office of the DG and other offices attached to it can have easy access to all other central research councils and, ultimately to the office of the Ministry of Ayush. The Siddha researchers are of the opinion that Chennai is not at all a suitable place for a national office like CCRS when other research councils are functioning in New Delhi.

In addition to the regional problem, there is an allegation from some Siddha experts that the director general of the Chennai based CCRS lacks experience in administrative and research areas, hence it is difficult for him to raise the institute to that of the expected level. If the council office is given the facility for easy access with Ayush ministry and other offices, and vice-versa, it will improve the situation and the functioning of CCRS will go on par with other research councils located in New Delhi.

Information received from reliable sources reveals that soon after the headquarters was started in Chennai after bifurcating the erstwhile CCRAS, the department of Ayush had allotted Rs. 18 crore for constructing a new office building, even without identifying a proper land. The plan was to construct the building inside the premises of the National Institute of Siddha at Tambaram. But the project was not taken off so far even after four years.
 
Later, there was a demand from various Siddha associations that the headquarters should be constructed at a place outside of the NIS premises because an office attached to the national institute would affect the growth of both the centres. Further, the probability for expansion of any of these institutes in future will naturally be hampered, they pointed out.
 
The Ayush minister has been informed that in spite of his department allotted enough funds and sanctioned posts of Siddha research officers, no concrete step has been taken yet by the DG’s office to execute the order. The government had given sanction for filling up 21 posts of research officers and some technical staffs, sources informed.