THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The administrative lethargy of AYUSH Department has stymied the expansion of the Government Ayurveda College in the capital. The department’s inability to utilise central funds had resulted in the premier Ayurveda institution not getting Preventive Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy and Vishachikitsa wings. Under the scheme for development of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) institutions, the Centre had on June 2010 sanctioned Rs 2.19 crore to Government Ayurveda College (GAC), Thiruvananthapuram, for construction of buildings for establishing additional departments for Preventive Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy and Vishachikitsa.
The Centre subsequently released Rs 1.5 crore. A senior AYUSH official said that work could not be started, and as a consequence the amount had to be refunded to the Centre by May 2013. When a query was put to the AYUSH department, it replied on December 2014 that Habitat Technology Group that was entrusted with the work was not willing to take up the work at the prevailing PWD ‘Schedule of Rates’. What’s more, it was told that the PWD too was not interested in undertaking the work. “The reply is an admission of inefficiency of the department to make arrangements for the construction works when funds were available for the purpose and is a matter of concern,” the official said.
These issues were earlier highlighted in the Report of the Comp-troller and Auditor General on General and Social Sector for the year ended March 2014. The audit also had found that the pharmacy in GAC, though it manufactured drugs on a large scale, was functioning without a licence under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act. The government, in its reply in December 2014, said that licence was not essential since the drugs were manufactured for free distribution and was not intended for sale. This argument was dumped by the CAG on the grounds that National Research Institute for Panchakarma, Cheruthuruthy, Thrissur district, which also distributed drugs for free, had obtained a manufacturing licence.
