Four New AYUSH Colleges to Come Up in AP: Satya

VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh government will develop the state as a major AYUSH hub by implementing projects worth `414 crore, health minister Satya Kumar Yadav said on Wednesday.

Addressing a state-level workshop on the 'Importance of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Cultivation and Marketing' at Thummalapalli Vari Kalakshetram in Vijayawada, the minister said the government was strengthening infrastructure for AYUSH Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, Naturopathy and Homoeopathy to promote a healthcare model focused on prediction, prevention and wellness rather than treatment alone.

He announced that four new AYUSH medical colleges would be established two Ayurveda colleges at Dharmavaram and Pithapuram, a Unani college at Proddatur and a Naturopathy college at Visakhapatnam at an estimated cost of `280 crore, with ₹70 crore allocated for each institution.

The minister said the government also planned to establish integrated AYUSH hospitals at Tirupati, Giddaluru, Nandigama, Tenali, Tekkali and Rampachodavaram. Renovation of 1,500 AYUSH dispensaries at a cost of `44 crore was nearing completion, he added.

Satya Kumar said the projects would be inaugurated during the proposed visit of Union Minister of State for AYUSH Prataprao Ganpatrao Jadhav in the presence of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan.

The minister said the government was also promoting awareness about AYUSH treatment and encouraging the cultivation of medicinal plants that have strong domestic and global demand.

Health secretary G. Veerapandian stressed the need for scientific standards, government approval and proper certification for traditional medicines to improve public confidence. He also called for clear labelling and usage guidelines for herbal products.

He said medicinal plants were currently cultivated on 30,000 to 35,000 acres in the state and advocated expanding cultivation to several lakh acres with support from the Forest department.

Secondary health director K.V.N. Chakradhar Babu urged consumers to be cautious about products marketed as 'natural' and called for greater awareness of preventive healthcare, particularly in rural areas.