Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday dedicated to the nation an Ayurveda teaching and research institute here in Gujarat that will offer a variety of courses and forge interdisciplinary collaborations to give a contemporary boost to the ancient medicine system.
The newly created Institute for Teaching and Research in Ayurveda (ITRA), which the PM inaugurated via videoconference, has received the status of “institution of national importance” (INI).
ITRA, located on the campus of Gujarat Ayurveda University in Jamnagar city, was recently created through an Act of Parliament.
It was formed by merging a group of four Ayurveda institutes on the university campus.
These four institutes were: the Institute of Postgraduate Teaching and Research in Ayurveda, Shree Gulab Kunverba Ayurveda Mahavidyalaya, the Institute of Ayurvedic Pharmaceutical Sciences, and the Maharshi Patanjali Institute for Education and Research in Yoga Naturopathy.
In September, Parliament passed a bill to create the ITRA and gave it the status of an “institution of national importance”.
ITRA is the first institute to enjoy this status in the AYUSH sector (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy), said a GDP statement.
“ITRA will be the first institution with INI status in the AYUSH sector, and this will allow the institution to be independent and innovative in terms of deciding on the content and pedagogy of the courses,” the statement said.
“The decision comes at a time when global interest in health solutions based on traditional wisdom is at an unprecedented level and the ITRA is poised to take Ayurvedic education to new perspectives,” he added.
A statement from the Ministry of AYUSH stated that ITRA will have autonomy to update the Ayurveda education standards.
“It will offer courses according to national and international demand and forge interdisciplinary collaborations to give a contemporary boost to Ayurveda,” the statement said.
Gujarat University of Ayurveda was established in 1967 by a law of the State Assembly.
It is the first statutory university of its kind both nationally and internationally, dedicated exclusively to Ayurvedic studies and research, according to a statement from the state government.
“This university is an autonomous organization fully funded by the Gujarat government.
“The university takes care of the management of the institutes and colleges located on campus together with the conduct of degree / diploma examinations awarded by the university,” he added.
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