23 OCT, Delhi:The 7th Ayurveda Day was celebrated today on a magnificent scale in India and at international level. This year’s 7th Ayurveda Day was celebrated with the theme “Har Din Har Ghar Ayurveda” so as to propagate benefits of Ayurveda to larger and grass root community. The six-week long celebration saw huge participation from across the country, more than 5000 events were organized by Ministry of Ayush institutes/councils with support of more than 26 ministries of Government of India and Ministry of External Affairs India missions and embassies.The dignitaries present at the event included Shri Arjun Munda, Minister of Tribal Affairs; Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, Minister of Ayush; Smt. Meenakshi Lekhi, Minister of State of External Affairs & Culture; Shri Dr. Munjpara Mahendrabhai Kalubhai, MoS Ayush; Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary MoA; Shri Anil Kumar Jha, Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Shri Pramod Kumar Pathak, Special Secretary, MoA and Prof. Tanuja Manoj Nesari, Director, AIIA along with representative of foreign embassies and WHO-SEARO. Addressing the gathering, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, said, that Ayurveda is a science of prevention of disease. It’s an ancient knowledge and our research councils are doing some impressive research work in Ayush sector. The further said that the objective of har din har Ghar ayurvedic camping is to take Ayurveda and its potential to the masses. Ayurveda is now known globally and this is because of the continuous and untiring efforts of prime minister Shri Narendra Modi.
On this occasion, Shri Arjun Munda said, “Ayurveda is India’s ancient tradition and wealth. Ayurveda can be nurtured in association with the people living in the forests. Ayurveda is the only medical science that talks about prevention of disease, not treatment after getting sick.”
Dr. Munjpara Mahendrabhai Kalubhai said that the Ministry of Ayush has accelerated the Ayush system of health in the country and Ayurveda is now recognized in 30 countries. He further informed that the current turnover of Ayush is $18.1 billion.
Smt. Meenakshi Lekhi said, “It’s time to appreciate the science of our ancestors. A science which is more than 5000 yrs old is celebrated on the occasion of Ayurveda day in the supervision of our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. He always promoted the science of Ayurveda and in last few years it has reached to its peak.”Prof. Tanuja Nesari, informed that ‘I support Ayurveda’ campaign got enormous support from all, as more than 1.7 Crore people participated and more than 56 Lakh people contributed in various activities organized by different institutions based on Ayurveda Day in last 6 week long program.
A Memorandum of understanding was signed between Ministry of Ayush and Ministry of Tribal Affairs to explore the areas of collaboration, convergence and synergy between both the ministries for Tribal development while preserving the tribal culture heritage through evidence-based planning and capacity building.
On this occasion a book on ‘The Ayurvedic Pharmacopia of India’, ‘The Ayurvedic formulary of India’ was released. To create awareness about the health benefits of medicinal plants, a species-specific national campaign on Ashwagandha – A health promoter was launched by the Ministry of Ayush. The first prize winners of five short video competitions were felicitated by the Union minister of Ayush and other dignitaries.