New Delhi: The Government of India is setting much store by Ayurveda and other indigenous healthcare systems to boost Medical Tourism in the country, Minister of Ayush Shri Sarbananda Sonowal has said.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister said the ‘Heal in India’ initiative was a cornerstone of its plans. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of Ayush have been working closely with  the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) and Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC) to develop a ‘One Step’ Heal in India portal for Promotion of Medical Value Travel, he added.

The Ministry of Ayush had also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) under the Ministry of Tourism, to work together for the promotion of Medical Value Travel in Ayurveda and other traditional systems of medicine.

Financial assistance

The Ministry of Ayush has developed a Central sector ccheme namely ‘Champion Service Sector Scheme for Medical Value Travel’. Under this scheme, financial assistance in the form of Interest Subsidy is being provided to private investors for the establishment of Super Specialty Hospitals/ Day Care Centres of the systems  of treatment recognized under the National Commission for Indian Systems of Medicine (NCISM) Act, 2020, or the National Commission for Homeopathy (NCH) Act, 2020.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had organised a few brainstorming sessions to promote the ‘Heal in India and Heal by India’ campaign. The Ministry of Ayush was a key participant in these sessions. Some key action points have been identified at these brainstorming sessions to promote traditional medicine through tourism in India.

A Round Table and a Plenary Session on ‘Heal in India-Medical Value Travel’ were also organized during Global Ayush Investment and Innovation summit at Gandhinagar, Gujarat, to promote India as No. 1 destination for Medical Value Travel, the Minister said.