National Ayush Mission

• 15 Jul 2021

Why in News

The government has decided to continue the National Ayush Mission (NAM) as a centrally sponsored scheme till 2026.

• The project will have a total cost of Rs. 4,603 crore, of which the Centre will bear Rs 3,000 crore share, and the states will cover the rest.
• Recently, new portals on the Ayush sector were also launched.

Meaning of 'Ayush'

• Traditional & Non-Conventional Systems of Health Care and Healing Which Include Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa-Rigpa and Homoeopathy etc.
• The positive features of the Indian systems of medicine namely their diversity and flexibility; accessibility; affordability, a broad acceptance by a large section of the general public; comparatively lesser cost and growing economic value, have great potential to make them providers of healthcare that the large sections of our people need.

Key Points

• Launch:
  
  • Launched in September 2014 by the Department of AYUSH under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, during the 12^th Plan for implementation through States/UTs.
  • Now, it is implemented by the Ministry of Ayush.
• About:
  
  • The scheme involves expansion of the AYUSH sector to promote holistic health of Indians.
  • The Mission addresses the gaps in health services through supporting the efforts of State/UT Governments for providing AYUSH health services/education in the country, particularly in vulnerable and far-flung areas.
• Components of the National AYUSH Mission:
  
  • Obligatory Components:
    
    • AYUSH Services.
    • AYUSH Educational Institutions.
    • Quality Control of ASU&H (Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani & Homoeopathy) Drugs.
    • Medicinal Plants.
  • Flexible Component
    
    • AYUSH Wellness Centres comprising Yoga and Naturopathy,
    • Tele-medicine,
    • Innovations in AYUSH including Public Private Partnership,
    • IEC (Information, Education and Communication) activities,
    • Voluntary certification scheme: Project based, etc.
• Expected Outcomes:
  
  • Better access to AYUSH healthcare services through increased healthcare facilities and better availability of medicines and trained manpower.
  • Improvement in AYUSH education through a well-equipped enhanced number of AYUSH Educational institutions.
  • To focus on reducing communicable/non-communicable diseases through targeted public health programmes using AYUSH systems of Healthcare.

Central Schemes

• The central schemes are divided into Central Sector Schemes and Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS).
• Central sector schemes:
  
  • These schemes are 100% funded by the Central government.
  • Implemented by the Central Government machinery.
  • Formulated on subjects mainly from the Union List.
  • E.g.: Bharatnet, Namami Gange-National Ganga Plan, etc.
• Centrally Sponsored Schemes:
  
  • These are the schemes by the centre where there is financial participation by both the centre and states.
  • CSS are again divided into Core of the Core Schemes, Core Schemes and Optional schemes.
    
    • There are 6 core of the core schemes.
  • Most of these schemes prescribe specific financial participation by states. For example, in the case of MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act), state governments have to incur 25% material expenditure.
• The 6 core of the core CSS are:
  
  • National Social Assistance Programme
  • Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Program
  • Umbrella Scheme for Development of Scheduled Castes
  • Umbrella Programme for Development of Scheduled Tribes
  • Umbrella Programme for Development of Minorities
  • Umbrella Programme for Development of Other Vulnerable Groups.

Source: PIB