NEW DELHI: In a move to bring in transparency and accountability, the Union Cabinet today approved an ordinance which will replace the existing Central Council of Homoeopathy (CCH) with a National Commission of Homeopathy to regulate and standardize homeopathy education and treatment in the country. The Commission, similar to the National Medical Commission, will comprise of seven persons who will be eminent homeopathy practitioners and administrators, and will be appointed by the government. Once appointed, these members will replace the existing functionaries of the Council. The move comes in the wake of allegations of corruption against office bearers of the CCH. Briefing reporters about the decisions of the Cabinet, law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the need to bring the ordinance arose as several office bearers were facing allegations of corruption. “Chairman (of the council) has been in CBI and other nets… The quality of education is suffering… We want to have a proper, professional homoeopathic ecosystem for education in the country,” he said. He refused to share more details noting that the ordinance is yet to receive the approval of the President. Sources in the government later said that the ordinance proposes to revamp the body and a bill to back up the executive order will come up in the Monsoon session of Parliament. The initial proposal to scrap CCH and Central Council of Indian Medicine was drawn by Niti Aayog, which also suggested replacing the two with the Commission.CCH was set up by the government in 1973 to monitor homeopathy education in India. This means any institution desiring to grant a qualification in homeopathy is required to apply to CCH, which prescribes course curriculum and maintains central registers of homoeopaths.Similarly, CCIM, a statutory body under department of Ayush in the health ministry, was set up in 1971 under the Indian Medicine Central Council Act to monitor higher education in Indian system of medicine including Ayurveda, siddha and unaniBesides the ordinance, the Cabinet also approved setting up of a new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Deoghar, Jharkhand and a National Institute of Mental Health Rehabilitation in Bhopal.A provision of funds worth Rs 1103 crore has been approved for the AIIMS project under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY). The new AIIMS will have a 750 bedded hospital with trauma center facilities, a medical college with an in-take of 100 MBBS students per year and a nursing college with an intake capacity of 60 students per year. Besides, it will also have a Ayush department with 30 beds.

Govt approves ordinance to revamp homoeopathy body Sushmi Dey | TNN | May 16, 2018, 22:47 IST

Controversial National Medical Commission Bill To Be Tabled in Lok Sabha Today The bill seeks to allow practitioners of Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Yoga and other alternative medicines to enter the field of modern medicine after completing a “bridge course”.

ARADHNA WAL, JANUARY 2, 2018, 11:13 AM