The Punjab government has approved setting up of its first ayurvedic university at Hoshiarpur, with campus spread over 25 acre at village Kharkan.
Minister for medical education,Tiksan Sud told FE that a unique feature of the proposed university would be setting up of a number of herbal massage centres throughout the state on “Panchakarama” treatment pattern of Kerala. The minister claimed that the ayurvedic university would help promote medical tourism and would be able to woo foreign tourists. The university to come up at an initial cost of Rs 30 crore would be located in foot hills of Shivalik range in Hoshiarpur district known for its rich and exotic fauna and flora. The district has been chosen since its soil is congenial for growth of herbal medicine parks, which were supplementary and complementary for promotion of Ayush in Punjab.
The need for this university, which would be only the third of its kind in the world was felt in view of the growing awareness of alternative system of medicine to promote ayush, which covered yoga and naturopathy, unani siddha and homeopathy apart from ayurveda which were earlier popular in large number of states of the country. With growing popularity of ayurvedic and yoga, India has become a major medical tourism centre for international tourists as a sizeable chunk of medical tourists preferred ayurvedic medicinal treatment as a traditional health care system.