the steps taken by the Government for research and documentation of medicinal plants used by various tribal groups and villagers for the treatment of various types of diseases in the country along with the details thereof
the steps taken by the Government for research and documentation of medicinal plants used by various tribal groups and villagers for the treatment of various types of diseases in the country along with the details thereof
THE MINISTER OF AYUSH
(SHRI SARBANANDA SONOWAL)
A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA
STARRED QUESTION NO.199* FOR 10TH DECEMBER, 2021
The Ministry of AYUSH through its Research Councils viz. Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine (CCRUM), Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy (CCRH) and Central Council for Research in Siddha (CCRS) are engaged in documentation & validation of medicinal plants used by various tribal groups and villagers for the treatment of various types of diseases.
1. CCRAS has initiated the Tribal Health Care Research Programme (THCRP)under Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) programme in 1982 in Arunachal Pradesh. Presently, it is continued at 14 peripheral institutes/units of CCRAS in 14 states/UTs,for documentation & validation of Local health traditions/Folklore used by Tribes related to the therapeutic use of Medicinal Plants(Annexure-I).In addition, CCRAS has documented/published the Local health traditions/ folk claims from tribal areas & other regions in the form of 22 books/monographs (Annexure II).
2. CCRUM has been undertaking the ‘Survey and Cultivation of Medicinal Plants’ program through its five Institutes namely the National Research Institute of Unani Medicine for Skin Disorders, Hyderabad and four Regional Research Institute of Unani Medicine, Srinagar, Aligarh, Bhadrak and Chennai(Annexure-III).Under the program, the Council has undertaken a series of ethno-botanical surveys in different forest division in different parts of the Country and documented 9,567 folklore claims which the Council has published in nine volumes (Annexure IV).
3. CCRH has a ‘Research Centre for Medicinal Plants Research in Homoeopathy’ in Tamil Nadu at Indira Nagar (Ooty), Emerald Post, Nilgiris District (T. N.). As a part of ethnobotanical surveys, in Niligiri tribes, documentation has been done on 157 plants used by tribes for 25 different diseases. The findings are published by CCRH in the book titled, “Plants in Ethnomedicine of the Nilgiri tribes in Tamil Nadu, India” in the year 2009. Out of these 09 drugs are validated for folklore claims in the research programs in Homoeopathy (Annexure V).
4. CCRS is involved through its a peripheral Unit of Siddha Medicinal Plants Garden (SMPG), Mettur Dam, Salem district, Tamilnadu, for documentation of ethno-medicinal uses of medicinal plants from the nearby tribal communities. Three projects, related to Ethno-botanical survey are supported under Intra-Mural Research (IMR) as:
A) Medico-ethnobotanical study at Palamalai Hills.
B) A survey on the ethno-medicinally important plants for common ailments in Tiruppur District, Tamil Nadu.
C) Digitization of Herbarium, Museum and compilation of folklore claims of SMPU,Palayamkottai.
Under these projects six publications are made (Annexure VI).
In addition, the National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB), Ministry of AYUSH, under its Central Sector Scheme on ‘Conservation, Development and Sustainable Management of Medicinal Plants’ has also supported R&D projects on ‘documentation &validation of medicinal plants used by tribal groups’at Assam, Mizoram, Orissa, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh States for the treatment of various diseases(Annexure VII).
In addition, Ministry of Tribal Affairs provides funds to State Tribal Research Institute/ renowned Research Institute for under taking research work on Tribal medicinal practices and medicinal plants under the schemes “Support to Tribal Research Institute” and ‘Tribal Festival, Research Information and Mass Education’. The details of such sanctioned projects, State-wise/Union Territory-wise is at Annexure VIII.