Department of Ayush will launch the much-delayed comprehensive survey on the usage and accessibility of drugs of different streams like Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathy to further streamline them into national mainstream programmes and help formulate policies and strategies.


The survey, which has been pending since the 10th Five Year Plan, is expected to begin from July 2011 and would conclude by June 2012, and modalities had been completed, sources said. “Survey is going to assess the status of Ayush systems in the country officially and would help immensely to formulate the policies and strategies in the future,” a senior official said.


The idea of such a survey was first proposed for completing during the 10th Plan period itself, but could not make any progress. Though the Government sanctioned Rs.66 lakhs for this purpose in budget for the current year, no further action was taken.


“The delay was mainly due to finalization of an agency/institution having capacity and competence for conducting nation-wide household survey. Latest position is that the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) has been requested to undertake the survey for Ayush along with their Socio-Economic Survey,” official said. The Health Department has also been requested to include such a survey in the next National Health and Family Welfare Survey.


“Initially NSSO conveyed that they may not conduct this survey for Ayush before 2014. Department of Ayush further approached to National Statistical Commission to persuade the NSSO for undertaking Ayush survey with forthcoming annual round of SE Survey. Now NSC in its meetings in May last year decided that the request for a survey by Ayush could be accommodated by adding questions in the Consumer Expenditure Survey Schedule,” the official added.