The Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), the apex research body under the Ministry of Ayush, held its 5th Executive Committee meeting on July 3, 2026, chaired by Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary of the Ministry of Ayush. The meeting focused on strengthening India's evidence-based Ayurveda research ecosystem through the launch of three major initiatives.
Secretary Kotecha acknowledged CCRAS's significant contributions to advancing evidence-based Ayurveda research, education, and public health, specifically praising the Council's achievement of securing 21 NABH and NABL accreditations across its institutes, establishment of the Ayush Diksha platform, successful international collaborative research initiatives, and completion of a large-scale study on anemia among adolescent girls.
Three landmark initiatives were launched during the meeting: (1) A Research Methodology textbook developed under the Ayurved Prabodhini Granthamala series, authored by 50 research scientists and faculty members, designed to strengthen research methodology competencies for postgraduate and doctoral scholars in accordance with NCISM curriculum standards; (2) Expression of Interest for CCRAS PRAYATNA 2026-27, a flagship initiative to promote scientific writing among postgraduate and Ph.D. scholars through structured institution-based workshops; and (3) CCRAS Digital Ecosystem Dashboard (available at dashboard.ccras.org.in), an integrated platform showcasing the Council's web-based and digital resources to improve accessibility, transparency, and public outreach.
The meeting was attended by senior officials including Shri Hoveyda Abbas (AS&FA, Ministry of Ayush), Shri Satyajit Paul (Senior Statistical Advisor, Ministry of Ayush), Dr. A. Raghu (Advisor Ayurveda, Ministry of Ayush), Vaidya Jayant Deopujari (Former Chairman, NCISM), Prof. Dr. Sanjeev Sharma (Vice Chancellor, National Institute of Ayurveda), Dr. N. Srikanth (Deputy Director General, CCRAS), and Shri Deepak Kochhar (Deputy Director Administration).