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This is an archive article published on November 3, 2002

Keeping swadeshi healthy

Swadeshi science and Shatrughan Sinha gel very well together. And if someone has a problem with the Health Minister obliging the RSS-backed ...

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Swadeshi science and Shatrughan Sinha gel very well together. And if someone has a problem with the Health Minister obliging the RSS-backed Swadeshi Science Movement with the Ministry’s funds or his presence at the conference, it’s all being done in the name of promoting the Indian system of medicine.

Sinha is in Kochi, Kerala, to inaugurate the four-day-long World Ayurveda Congress 2002 that began on Friday. But what has ruffled feathers in the Ministry is that the conference is being organised jointly by the Swadeshi Science Movement (SSM) and the Ministry of Health. SSM is a unit of the Vijnana Bharati, the ‘‘scientific wing’’ of the RSS.

The Ministry has reportedly spent Rs 5 lakh on the function besides lending its name to the invitations and brochures. Both Sinha and top Ministry officials seem unfazed by the criticism that a government department is officially promoting an RSS outfit.

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‘‘We want to promote ayurveda. And this is a function where experts from the entire world will gather. There is no politics involved,’’ said Sinha at a function organised last week. Reacting to accusations that the Ministry is ‘‘promoting’’ an RSS outfit, Malti Sinha, secretary, Indian System of Medicine, said the Ministry is only promoting ayurveda. ‘‘We would do this for anyone who is seriously working to promote ayurveda,’’ Sinha said.

Besides Sinha, the organising committee of the function includes HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi, former Health minister C.P. Thakur, Vijnana Bharati national president P. Parameshwaran. The organisers say the event is the first of its kind, with scholars, scientists and policy-makers discussing issues related to ayurveda.

‘‘The subjects being covered in this meeting range from the fundamental principles of ayurveda to frontier areas such as standardisation of drugs, patenting, IPR, treatment for cancer, radiation hazards, AIDS and biotechnology. The meeting is sure to open up avenues for research cooperation among national and international agencies and will give momentum to R&D in India,’’ said a brochure circulated by the Ministry.

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