Push for Ayush created colleges, but few jobs

The concerted push for traditional systems of medicine, now collectively referred to as 'AYUSH', has led to a proliferation of Ayush colleges but jobs are still scarce and public healthcare favours modern medicine

- Musab Qazi

When he finished high school in 2015, Mrunal Kolhatkar wanted to do something for the nation.

His first choice was becoming an army doctor. But when the Nagpur-resident failed to get into the Armed Forces Medical College at Pune, he opted to study Ayurveda at a local college. Determined to practice the indigenous medicine system, he also did a course on panchkarma, procedures deployed to detoxify bodies. Even when his batchmates chose to practice the more lucrative modern medicines after graduation, he stuck to his 'pathy'.

While Kolhatkar has been running his Ayurveda clinic in the city for the last five years, and drawing immense satisfaction out of it, there are moments of doubt too. He gets a limited but steady stream of patients, but knows he'll earn more if he branches out to 'allopathy'. In fact, he worked as a contractual medical officer at a primary healthcare centre (PHC) near Nagpur but returned to focus on his area of expertise.

Kolhatkar's experience reflects the predicament of thousands studying the traditional medicine systems, including Ayurveda, homeopathy, Unani, Siddha, naturopathy and Sowa Rigpa. Even as the central government pours funds into these healthcare streams, they are yet to offer viable career paths to their proponents. The majority of graduates continue to chase the limited opportunities in public healthcare units, which largely adhere to modern medicine, while others set up private practice, where their chosen discipline takes a back seat.

Schemes and funds