SHILLONG: There is a need to cultivate medicinal plants as cash crops in Meghalaya to increase production, said an expert on the third anniversary of North Eastern Institute of Ayurveda and Homeopathy (NEIAH) on Saturday.
NEIAH director Pradip Kumar Goswami said ginger and turmeric are in high demand in the international market both in the pharmaceutical and spices industries.
Stressing the need for preserving various indigenous medicinal plants in the face of inevitable climate change, Goswami said, “If these are taken up both in the private and public sectors, it will be an influential sector for economic development.
A good number of medicinal plants can be grown here. But it should be made in a systematic effort.”
The expert termed the initiative of the state Directorate of Ayush as “a new dawn of development” and hoped that other states in the region follow suit. “Starting the Ayush is a good sign for the state,” he said.
Set up in 2016, the institute has a major chunk of the 300-odd students from the North East. “It is a great boost to the students of North East. Otherwise the students would have gone to private colleges in South India. We also give subsidised education. Students are retained in the North East,” Goswami said.
According to him, students have several career options like primary healthcare service, cultivation of medicinal plants as entrepreneurship, starting small-scale pharmaceutical industry or going for medical tourism.
“They ultimately create employment opportunity for the people of the region. Cultivation of medicinal plants, their proper utilisation and use as pharmaceutical industry give an economic boost to the whole of north east region,” Goswami said.
Stating that NEIAH is an institute functioning at a preliminary stage, he said the infrastructure of the institute needs to be developed to give a fillip to medical education, research and entrepreneurship.
The aim of NEIAH is to preserve the knowledge of traditional healers and employing youths in this area will yield results.
“It is high time we preserve the traditional knowledge whether they are practiced through certain herbs or certain skill. The rural masses are dependent on traditional healers,” he said.
He added traditional healing knowledge or knowledge of the herbs has been existed should be collected, documented and preserve and validated.
Main projects
Speaking about the upcoming projects, he said in the first phase, two colleges, one hospital and the library building were set up. In second phase NEIAH got sanctions for three hostels –resident doctors, boy students and girl students along with 3 or 4 units of faculty quarters, one guest and director’s bungalow and work is in progress.
“We are planning to have a separate administrative block along with auditorium etc,” he said.
Goswami said during the peak season, the hospitals’ footfall is around 350-400 in the peak season while more patients are seen in the OPD and Ayurvedic have more IPD.
In a year, the number of patients will not be less than 25,000 to 30,000.
