{"id":86707,"date":"2026-02-08T10:24:45","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T04:54:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=86707"},"modified":"2026-02-09T15:48:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T10:18:11","slug":"ayush-major-push-union-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/ayush-major-push-union-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"Why AYUSH Received a Major Push in the Union Budget 2026-27"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>AYUSH Latest News<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Union Budget 2026-27 significantly increased allocations for the AYUSH sector and announced major institutional and regulatory initiatives to expand its domestic and global footprint.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Understanding the AYUSH System in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">AYUSH refers to <\/span><b>Ayurveda, Yoga &amp; Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, India\u2019s traditional systems of medicine that coexist with modern allopathic healthcare.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Over the last decade, the government has sought to integrate AYUSH into the public health system while also positioning it as a source of economic growth and soft power.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Institutionally, AYUSH functions under the <\/span><b>Ministry of AYUSH<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, established in 2014.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The sector operates through a nationwide network of AYUSH hospitals, dispensaries, teaching institutions, research councils, and regulatory bodies.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/national-ayush-mission-nam\/\" target=\"_blank\"><b>National AYUSH Mission<\/b><\/a><b> (NAM)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is the primary vehicle for integrating AYUSH services into primary healthcare by co-locating AYUSH facilities in existing health centres.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India also hosts Institutes of National Importance such as the All India Institute of Ayurveda, New Delhi, and the National Institute of Homoeopathy, Kolkata, along with research bodies like the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Regulatory oversight is provided by the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine and the National Commission for Homoeopathy, while drug standards are set by the Pharmacopoeia Commission for Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Budgetary Expansion of the AYUSH Sector<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Union Budget 2026-27 marked a sharp increase in government spending on AYUSH.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The total allocation rose to Rs. 4,408 crore, up from Rs. 3,992 crore in 2025-26 and Rs. 2,122 crore in 2020-21.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This reflects a long-term policy shift to mainstream traditional medicine within India\u2019s healthcare framework.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A major announcement was the establishment of three new All-India Institutes of Ayurveda, envisioned as centres of excellence on the lines of AIIMS.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These institutions will combine patient care, advanced research, and high-quality medical education, aiming to standardise Ayurvedic practice nationally.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Budget also proposed enhanced funding for upgrading the <\/span><b>WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre in Jamnagar<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, signalling India\u2019s ambition to lead global standard-setting for traditional medicine practices.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Strengthening Infrastructure, Research, and Supply Chains<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>National AYUSH Mission<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> received a <\/span><b>66% hike to Rs. 1,300 crore<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, focusing on modernising AYUSH hospitals and dispensaries, expanding preventive healthcare, and upgrading existing facilities.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Additional funds were earmarked for improving AYUSH pharmacies and drug-testing laboratories to address long-standing quality and safety concerns.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A notable innovation announced was <\/span><b>Bharat-VISTAAR<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a multilingual AI-based digital assistant designed to support farmers cultivating medicinal plants.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It will provide real-time guidance on crop quality, market prices, and export certification, strengthening the medicinal plant supply chain.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>India-EU Free Trade Agreement and Global Outreach<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A key driver behind the Budget push is the <\/span><b>India-European Union Free Trade Agreement (FTA)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which has opened new opportunities for AYUSH in European markets.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In EU countries that do not specifically regulate traditional medicine, Indian AYUSH practitioners can now offer services based on qualifications obtained in India.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The FTA also allows Indian companies to establish wellness centres and Ayurvedic clinics across the EU with legal certainty.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Importantly, it enables mutual recognition of certain laboratory test results and safety certifications, easing the export of AYUSH products.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The agreement also recognises India\u2019s <\/span><b>Traditional Knowledge Digital Library<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, helping prevent biopiracy and wrongful patent claims on Indian formulations.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Concerns Around Evidence, Safety, and Regulation<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite the expansion, the AYUSH sector faces persistent criticism.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Medical bodies such as the Indian Medical Association argue that many AYUSH therapies lack rigorous empirical validation through randomised controlled trials.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Safety concerns remain, particularly regarding the presence of heavy metals like <\/span><b>lead<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>mercury<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in some Ayurvedic formulations, which have triggered international health advisories.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another contentious issue is \u201c<\/span><b><i>mixopathy<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d, the overlap between AYUSH and allopathic practices.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Policy decisions allowing Ayurveda practitioners to perform certain surgical procedures and prescribe allopathic drugs have led to legal disputes and professional opposition, highlighting the need for clearer regulatory boundaries.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source :<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/science\/how-will-budget-boosts-eu-access-remake-ayush-beyond-india-explained\/article70587863.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TH<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The AYUSH sector has received a major boost in the Union Budget 2026-27, strengthening traditional medicine systems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":86824,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[5235,60,22,59],"class_list":{"0":"post-86707","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-ayush","9":"tag-mains-articles","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86707"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86707\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86938,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86707\/revisions\/86938"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}