Centre to build AYUSH facilities in Nagaland at Rs 100 crore: Sonowal

Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Friday said that the Centre would build AYUSH facilities, including an Ayurveda college, in Nagaland at Rs 100 crore.

A Rs 70-crore state-of-art Ayurveda college will be established in Longleng district, and a 30-bed AYUSH hospital, and 10-bed smaller facilities will be set up with the funds based on the detailed project report submitted by the state government, he said.

"Northeast has immense potential to become the hub of AYUSH. With our rich traditional knowledge base in folk medicine and bounty of flora that Mother Nature has blessed us with, it is important that we seize this opportunity," the AYUSH minister said.

He inaugurated an Integrated AYUSH Hospital (IAH) at Razha in Chedema village on the outskirts of Kohima, and virtually laid the foundation of three more such facilities in Mokokchung, Chumoukedima and Kiphire districts.

"Northeast can become the springboard for AYUSH in the country and create an eco-system to provide health and wellness solutions to people of India as well as our neighbouring countries. This will give us economic strength and our community will be blessed with a healing touch to treat human illness," he said.

He said that AYUSH aims at empowering traditional Indian medicinal practices with modern scientific validation for wider and popular use.

Nagaland Health Minister S Pangnyu Phom said that the state now has three fully operational AYUSH hospitals, while two more are under construction.