Little done to promote traditional medicine systems, laments PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi lamented the lack of promotion of India's unrecalled traditional medicinal systems by successive governments on Wednesday.

Modi after inaugurating a research institute at yoga guru Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Yogpeeth in Haridwar said that little was done to promote the traditional systems of medicine and wellness disciplines such as yoga in the pre- and post-independence eras.

"In the pre-independence era the gems of our traditional systems of medicine and healthcare were deliberately kept under wraps because we were a slave country. But even in the post-independence era, unfortunately, there was an effort on the part of successive governments to forget the distinctive specialities of our traditional systems rather than promoting them", Modi said.

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He said the new institute, designed to facilitate clinical trials and modern packaging of ayurvedic medicines, was a big step forward towards "holistic" healthcare and would pave the way for a wider acceptance of India's traditional therapeutic systems.

"The main roadblock in the wider acceptance of ayurvedic medicines is the old-school, elaborate system of administering them. If ayurvedic medicines are packaged in a modern way, the world will accept them with alacrity", he said.

With the hi-tech research institute equipped with a state-of-the-art laboratory, "a significant step" had been taken in that direction, Modi added.

He congratulated Ramdev for the research institute and for taking yoga "to every household across the world".

Modi also unveiled "World Herbal Encyclopaedia", a work that looks at over 70000 herbal species found across the country, compiled over ten years by Ramdev's aide, Acharya Balkrishna.

Ramdev, who conferred the title of "Rashtra Rishi" on Modi for his "relentless efforts to build a clean, strong andunited India", said in his address the country was bound to prosper under Modi's "illustrious leadership".

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The honour had come as a surprise to him, the prime minister said. 

"My source of inspiration is the 125 crore people of thiscountry. I don't believe in myself as much as in the strengthof the blessings of 125 crore Indians", Modi said.

The prime minister arrived at Patanjali from Kedarnath, where he prayed at an 8th-century shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva.