National AYUSH Mission expenditure increasing – But are there takers?

The launch of the International Yoga Day marks the emphasis of the Government in reinvigorating AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy). The government has also created a separate Ministry of AYUSH. The utilization of funds under Centrally Sponsored Schemes has also increased in the last 2 years. Interestingly, while the government is prioritizing the program, the consumers are not: a net of 5-7 percent of the population have received treatment from Indian Systems of Medicine in comparison to over 90% availing Allopathy. The figures are as low as 1% in case of patient hospitalization. Interestingly, the rural population is not consuming AYUSH services faster than the urban belt, neither is there any gender preference towards AYUSH (shown in the graph). Therefore even though the government is keen on strengthening AYUSH, it might also want to keep an eye on where the demand might lie.