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| Monday, October 08, 2007
Indian medicine seats go abegging
Over 400 seats remain unfilled
- Delay in counselling blamed
- Poor infrastructure also a reason
Chennai: Practitioners of Indian Medicine have expressed concern
over 400 seats (government quota) in Indian medicine courses
in self-financing colleges not having many takes this year.
A recent government order called for a walk-in counselling for
admission to vacant seats in Siddha, Ayurveda, Unani, Yoga and
Naturopathy courses.
The communique indicated that 450 seats falling under
government quota in self-financing colleges would be filled
up after counselling.
“It is strange that it should be so. Especially, at a
time when there is a resurgence of interest globally in Indian
Systems of Medicine,” says C.N. Deivanayagam, chairman,
scientific advisory committee, National Institute of Siddha
(NIS), and member, Central Council for Research on Ayurveda
and Siddha.
According to him, there is an enormous scope, both in research
and practice, for those qualified in the various streams of
Indian medicine. For instance, the outpatient department at
the NIS in Tambaram sees at least 2,000 patients every week,
with the numbers swelling on Sunday, he says.
He thinks that the delay in holding counselling for Indian medicine
streams could be the reason for the lack of interest.
The counselling is held well after allotment to MBBS, BDS, Nursing
and Paramedical seats.
Educational consultant Jaiprakash Gandhi says it could also
be due to lack of awareness about the importance and existence
of such courses. Another reason is the lack of infrastructure
in self-financing colleges offering such courses. “They
take a look at the building and atmosphere – the scale
is much smaller than medical or dental colleges. This too puts
people off.”
The Government Siddha Institute, with sufficient infrastructure,
however, has managed to fill most of its seats, lending credence
to the theory.
Dr. Devianayagam says the reason that practitioners of Indian
medicine do not command the same kind of respect that an allopath
in a corporate hospital gets may also be a consideration. His
suggests a proactive government policy to promote awareness
of the systems of medicine.
Courtesy: The Hindu
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