Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Ministry of Ayush and Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare Shri Prataprao Jadhav chaired the Fifth Meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Ayush in New Delhi, focusing on Yoga and Naturopathy. The meeting deliberated on their growing relevance in preventive healthcare, healthy lifestyles, rehabilitation, and holistic well-being.
Minister Jadhav emphasized that Yoga and Naturopathy offer holistic, drug-free approaches focused on health promotion and overall well-being, with Yoga contributing to physical, mental, and emotional well-being while Naturopathy emphasizes nutrition, lifestyle modification, natural therapies, and the body's inherent healing capacity. He highlighted the growing burden of non-communicable diseases, stress, and mental health challenges associated with modern lifestyles, stressing the need to focus on disease prevention alongside treatment.
The government is strengthening the institutional ecosystem through the Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga (MDNIY), Yoga Certification Board (YCB), National Institute of Naturopathy (NIN), Central Council for Research in Yoga and Naturopathy (CCRYN), and Naturopathy Registration Board (NRB). These institutions play roles in education, training, certification, research, healthcare, quality assurance, and professional standardization.
A presentation by Joint Secretary Ms. Alarmelmangai D. revealed the scale of the ecosystem: 22 CCRYN units nationwide, 100+ universities offering Yoga courses, 5,000+ Yoga centres, 113 accredited institutions, 29 accredited Personnel Certification Bodies, and a research base of 10,500+ peer-reviewed, PubMed-indexed publications.
Members of Parliament present at the meeting unanimously agreed on the need for a unified regulatory mechanism for education in Yoga and Naturopathy. The Ministry outlined seven key priority areas for strengthening these systems: strengthening education and institutional infrastructure; promoting scientific research and evidence generation; strengthening certification, accreditation and professional standards in Yoga; enhancing registration, quality assurance and standardization in Naturopathy; expanding community-level access to preventive and wellness services; promoting Yoga and Naturopathy as key components of wellness tourism and medical value travel; and taking India's traditions to the global stage backed by scientific evidence and quality standards.
The meeting reaffirmed the importance of collaboration between the Ministry, Parliament, and stakeholders in strengthening Yoga and Naturopathy as evidence-based, accessible systems of preventive healthcare, aligned with the vision of a Healthy India and Viksit Bharat–2047.