Dissatisfied with the state government’s poor initiatives to support Ayurveda medical education in Kerala, the Ayurveda Medical Association of India (AMAI) has alleged that despite several requests for development of the three government academic institutions, no positive step has been taken by the concerned authorities to support the Ayurveda medical education and academic institutions.

The association has passed a resolution in its general body urging the government to increase the number of faculty members and develop infrastructure facilities at the three government Ayurveda medical colleges in the state. They said the ayurvedic medical education in the government sector is not improving, but alarmingly going backward.

While speaking to Pharmabiz, the executive committee member of CCIM and former general secretary of AMAI, Dr VG Udayakumar said all the three medical colleges in the state are facing shortage of infrastructure, academic staff and support from government. He said unless shortage of faculties is solved in 2014, several departments have to stop the running of courses. According to him the colleges are likely to lose 45 seats in all the departments altogether, provided sufficient staffs are not appointed. Last year, due to the lackadaisical attitude of the government, five PG seats in paediatrics were lost to the state and hence the course could not be started.

Dr Udayakumar said it is the duty of the state government to appoint sufficient faculties in the colleges. The members elected from Kerala to the Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM) met the state health minister and gave memorandum in this regard.

Kerala has a total of 16 Ayurveda medical colleges including three in the government sector. The government Ayurveda medical college in Thiruvananthapuram has a long history of 125 years, but it has only nine PG programmes.

The medical college at Thrippunithura was started in 1956 and even today the number of PG programmes conducted there is only three. The third government Ayurveda medical college is in Kannur where two PG courses are conducted. All the colleges have the intake capacity for UG courses upto one hundred, but due to lack of infrastructure more students cannot be admitted and give admission to 60 students only, he told Pharmabiz.

“Government Ayurveda Medical College at Thiruvananthapuram is the oldest Ayurveda medical college in the country with biggest hospital and more patients. The hospital has 600 beds and every time they are occupied. But there is no attempt from the government to develop and convert it to a model medical college. The government can also convert Kerala to an educational state of Ayurveda”, he added.

Meanwhile, the private colleges are making up infrastructure and introduce new courses every year. The Amrita Ayurveda Institute under Amrita University in Kochi, which started nearly one decade ago, is now conducting nine PG courses. When private colleges get approvals for increasing number of existing seats and introduce new courses, the government colleges are not getting additional seats for important courses.

Dr V G Udayakumar said no skill development in the academic area of Ayurveda is held in Kerala, the hub of Ayurveda.