One of the mandates of the Ministry of AYUSH is the promotion of the different AYUSH systems of medicine over different geographies and across different populations. The Ministry has decided to induct Telemedicine as one of the ways to achieve this goal. The Ministry, on Friday (25 October 2019), signed an MoU with M/s CSC e-Governance Services India Limited, a Special Purpose Vehicle set up by the Ministry of Electronics & IT for promoting e-Governance, to launch a pilot project of Telemedicine in the Siddha system of healthcare.

महात्मा गांधी का कथन है, ‘स्वच्छता, राजनीतिक स्वतंत्रता से अधिक महत्त्वपूर्ण है।’ यह कथन समाज में स्वच्छता के महत्व को रेखांकित करता है। उनके इसी कथन को को मूर्त रूप देने के लिए माननीय प्रधानमंत्री श्री नरेंद्र मोदी ने 15 अगस्त, 2014 को लाल किले की प्राचीर से राष्ट्र को संबोधित करते हुए कहा था कि “हमें गंदगी और खुले में शौच के खिलाफ लड़ाई लड़नी है, हमें पुरानी आदतों को बदलना है और महात्मा गांधी की 150वीं जयंती के वर्ष 2019 तक स्वच्छ भारत का लक्ष्य प्राप्त करना है।” जिसके तहत 15 सितम्बर से 2 अक्टूबर (गांधी जयंती) तक देश भर में एक विशेष स्वच्छता अभियान का आगाज किया गया, जिसे पीएम मोदी ने ‘स्वच्छता ही सेवा’ (क्लीनीनेस इज़ सर्विस) नाम दिया है।

Affordable healthcare, an integral component that ensures the development of a nation holistically, is becoming a reality due to the efforts of the Narendra Modi Government. In a welcome and much needed change, the Government has slashed the prices of knee implants by between 59% and 69% using a special provision in the drug pricing law that allows it to make amends in “extraordinary circumstances” for the welfare of citizens.

Yoga, an ancient cultural heritage of India, understands health and well being as a dynamic continuum of human nature and not a mere ‘state’ to be attained and maintained (Bhavanani, 2013). Yogi Swatmarama, author of the Hathayoga Pradipika, one of the classical Hatha Yoga texts gives us the assurance, “One who tirelessly practises Yoga attains success irrespective of whether they are young, old decrepit, diseased or weak” (Bhatt, 2004).

The announcement of the National Health Policy 2017 is one of the many progressive strides being made by our country. It is one of the several long due activities that has fructified under NDA Government’s mandate of ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas’ under the visionary leadership of Shri. Narendra Modi ji.