PARLIAMENT OF INDIA RAJYA SABHA DEPARTMENT-RELATED PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE ON HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

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1 REPORT NO. 105 PARLIAMENT OF INDIA RAJYA SABHA DEPARTMENT-RELATED PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE ON HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE ONE HUNDRED FIFTH REPORT On ACTION TAKEN BY GOVERNMENT ON THE RECOMMENDATIONS/OBSERVATIONS CONTAINED IN THE ONE HUNDREDTH ONE REPORT ON DEMANDS FOR GRANTS (DEMAND NO. 5) OF THE MINISTRY OF AYUSH (Presented to the Rajya Sabha on 20 th December, 2017) (Laid on the Table of Lok Sabha on 20 th December, 2017) Rajya Sabha Secretariat, New Delhi December, 2017/ Agrahayana, 1939.(Saka)

2 PARLIAMENT OF INDIA RAJYA SABHA DEPARTMENT-RELATED PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE ON HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE ONE HUNDRED FIFTH REPORT On ACTION TAKEN BY GOVERNMENT ON THE RECOMMENDATIONS/OBSERVATIONS CONTAINED IN THE ONE HUNDREDTH ONE REPORT ON DEMANDS FOR GRANTS (DEMAND NO. 5) OF THE MINISTRY OF AYUSH (Presented to the Rajya Sabha on 20 th December, 2017) (Laid on the Table of Lok Sabha on 20 th December, 2017) Rajya Sabha Secretariat, New Delhi December, 2017/ Agrahayana, 1939 (Saka)

3 CONTENTS 1. COMPOSITION OF THE COMMITTEE (i) 2. INTRODUCTION (ii) *3. ACRONYMS REPORT Chapter I Recommendations/Observations in respect of which replies of the Government have been accepted by the Committee Chapter II Chapter III Chapter IV Recommendations/Observations which the Committee does not desire to pursue in view of the Government s replies. Recommendations/Observations in respect of which replies of the Government have not been accepted by the Committee Recommendations/Observations in respect of which final replies of the Government are still awaited *5. OBSERVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS AT A GLANCE *6. MINUTES * to be appended at printing stage

4 COMPOSITION OF THE COMMITTEE ( ) 1. Prof. Ram Gopal Yadav - Chairman RAJYA SABHA 2. Shri Manas Ranjan Bhunia 3. Dr. R. Lakshmanan 4. Dr. Vikas Mahatme 5. Shri Jairam Ramesh 6. Shri Ashok Siddharth 7. Shri K. Somaprasad 8. Dr. C. P. Thakur 9. Shri Ronald Sapa Tlau 10. Shrimati Sampatiya Uikey LOK SABHA 11. Shri Thangso Baite 12. Shri Nandkumar Singh Chouhan (Nandu Bhaiya) 13. Dr. (Ms.) Heena Vijaykumar Gavit 14. Dr. Sanjay Jaiswal 15. Dr. K. Kamaraj 16. Shri Arjun Lal Meena 17. Shri Anoop Mishra 18. Shri J.J.T. Natterjee 19. Shri Mahendra Nath Pandey 20. Shri Chirag Paswan 21. Shri C. R. Patil 22. Shri M.K. Raghavan 23. Dr. Manoj Rajoria 24. Dr. Shrikant Eknath Shinde 25. Shri Gyan Singh 26. Shri Bharat Singh 27. Shri Kanwar Singh Tanwar 28. Shrimati Rita Tarai 29. Shri Dasrath Tirkey 30. Shri Manohar Utawal 31. Shri Akshay Yadav SECRETARIAT Shri P.P.K. Ramacharyulu Shri J. Sundriyal Shri Rakesh Naithani Shri Dinesh Singh Shrimati Harshita Shankar Shri Pratap Shenoy Shrimati Gunjan Parashar Additional Secretary Joint Secretary Director Additional Director Under Secretary Committee Officer Research Officer (i)

5 INTRODUCTION I, the Chairman of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare, having been authorized by the Committee to present the Report on its behalf, hereby present this One Hundred Fifth Report of the Committee on by Government on the Recommendations/Observations contained in the Committee s One Hundredth One Report on Demands for Grants (Demand No.6) of the Ministry of AYUSH for the year The One Hundredth One Report of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare was presented to Rajya Sabha and laid on the Table of Lok Sabha on 20 th March, Replies of the Government on the recommendations contained in the Report, received from the Ministry of AYUSH were considered by the Committee at its meeting held on the 12 th December, The Committee considered the Draft Report and adopted the same in its meeting held on the 12 th December, NEW DELHI; PROF. RAM GOPAL YADAV 12 th December, 2017 Chairman, Agrahayana 1939 (Saka) Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare, Rajya Sabha (ii)

6 REPORT The Report of the Committee deals with the action taken by the Government on the recommendations contained in the One Hundredth One Report of the Committee on Demands for Grants (Demand No. 5) of the Ministry of AYUSH for the year Notes (ATNs) have been received from the Government in respect of the recommendations contained in the 100 th Report. They have been categorized as follows: (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) Recommendations/Observations in respect of which replies of the Government have been accepted by the Committee: 2.3, 2.17, 4.9, 5.6, 6.6, 9.5, 10.8 Total 7 (Chapter I) Recommendations/Observations which the Committee does not desire to pursue in view of the Government s replies: 2.12, 3.5, 3.9, 3.16, 5.9, 5.11, 5.13, 6.4, 6.5, 7.4, 8.4, 10.3, 10.10, 10.12, Total 15 (Chapter II) Recommendations/Observations in respect of which replies of the Government have not been accepted by the Committee: 2.4, 2.5, 2.8, 2.13, 3.7, 3.11, 3.12, 3.15, 4.6, 5.5, 6.3, 6.9, 6.11, 8.6, 10.5, Total 16 (Chapter III) Recommendations/observations in respect of which final replies of the Government are still awaited: - Total - Nil (Chapter-IV) 3. The details of the ATNs are discussed in various Chapters in the succeeding pages.

7 CHAPTER I RECOMMENDATIONS/OBSERVATIONS IN RESPECT OF WHICH REPLIES OF THE GOVERNMENT HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED BY THE COMMITTEE II. BUDGETARY ALLOCATION Observations/ Recommendation 1.1 The Committee is constrained to note that out of the total outlay of Rs crores for the Ministry for the 12th Five Year Plan, the Ministry got only Rs crore at the BE stage. This was, further, reduced to Rs crores at the RE stage. Out of this, the Ministry has been able to utilize only Rs crores. The Committee observes the disappointing trend of utilization for the entire Five Year Plan. The Committee in its earlier Reports on Demands for Grants has reiterated the need for the realistic assessment of the requirement of funds and corresponding utilization of those funds. There has been recurrent and persistent under utilization of the funds allocated at the stage of BE as well as RE in all the five years of the 12th plan. The Committee, therefore, recommends that lessons need to be learnt so that funds are not kept idly parked, year after year but are gainfully utilized for other fund-starved programs / schemes. (para 2.3) 1.2 The Ministry recognizes the need to fully utilize the allocated resources and in fact the steps taken by it over the years has seen a significant improvement in this regard as per the trend of Budget allocation vis-à-vis expenditure for the five years of the 12 th Five Year Plan shown below: (Rs. in crore) Year BE RE AE % Utilization w.r.t. RE Total From the above, it can be seen that the overall utilization of funds is 91.80% of RE during the five years of 12 th Plan. It is also worth mentioning that the utilization is about 98% to 99% of RE allocation during the period from to , due to various measures taken. Pending UCs Observations/ Recommendation

8 1.4 The Committee time and again has been impressing upon the Ministry the imperative need for speedy liquidation of pending UCs. Though some progress has been made, there is still a large number of pending UCs and it seems that the efforts made by the Ministry to liquidate them are not enough. The Committee, therefore, believes that a pro-active and aggressive approach is required on the part of the Ministry for liquidation of pending UCs. The Committee is of the firm view that in this era of e-governance and with IT resources currently available, submission of UCs should be possible almost on Push of a button. The Committee, therefore, recommends that the Ministry should chalk out an action plan for online submission of UCs and also take up the matter of pendency of UCs with States which have a large number of pending UCs like Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand etc so that all pending UCs are settled within a period of six months. (para 2.17) 1.5 Presently, following remedial Action taken have been taken by the Ministry of AYUSH to reduce the pendency of Utilization of Certificates (UCs) in respect of erstwhile Centrally Sponsored Scheme for Development of AYUSH Hospitals & Dispensaries and National AYUSH Mission (NAM) :- (a) Various review meeting had been conducted under the Chairmanship of Secretary (AYUSH) regarding pendency of Utilization Certificates. During the meeting of State AYUSH / Health Ministers the issue was flagged at the level of Hon ble MoS. (b) The Ministry of AYUSH had nominated Nodal Officers for each State / UT to monitor the status of pending UCs. (c) Time to time letters have also been issued to States / UTs Government from Secretary (AYUSH) & Joint Secretary regarding liquidation of Utilization Certificates. (d) Regional Meeting has also been conducted under the Chairmanship of Secretary (AYUSH) regarding various issues including liquidation of pending Utilization Certificates. 1.6 However, the recommendation of the committee including on line submission of UCs by the states has been noted. Further, the States having large pending UCs are being specifically addressed for early liquidation of pending UCs. 1.7 In addition, in respect of the erstwhile Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Drugs Quality Control, States have been requested repeatedly for submission of pending UCs or refund the unspent grants. As a result only 68 UCs worth Rs crore are left to be settled mainly from 6 states each having pendency of UCs of more than Rs. 1 crore. In order to further ensure liquidation of UCs within a period of six months as recommended by the Department related Parliamentary Committee; the matter has been taken up with the concerned State Authorities for expediting submission of UCs & associated documents online or through . IV. NATIONAL AYUSH MISSION (NAM) Observations/ Recommendation

9 1.8 The Committee is dismayed to note that National AYUSH Mission being one of the most important schemes of the Ministry, would be facing shortfall of funds in Financial Year Similar was the case last year i.e when the Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH had submitted that NAM would be affected due to shortfall in allocation. NAM envisages better access to AYUSH services through increase in number of AYUSH Hospitals and Dispensaries, ensuring availability of ASU&H drugs and trained manpower, upgradation of AYUSH educational institutions for improvement in quality of AYUSH education, increase in number of Pharmacies, setting up Drug Laboratories in States and sustained availability of herbal raw drugs by promoting medicinal plants. Keeping in view the vital objectives of NAM, it is imperative that adequate funds are allocated for this scheme. The Committee also is of the view that the objectives of NAM signal a significant improvement in the quality of AYUSH healthcare services, expanding its outreach and making available AYUSH healthcare facilities to the people. The Committee, therefore, strongly recommends that the Ministry should approach Ministry of Finance for additional funds with proper justifications for enhanced allocation of funds at RE stage. (para 4.9) 1.9 During , an amount of Rs Crore has been allocated in BE. As per the recommendation of committee Ministry of Finance will be approached for enhancement of allocation at RE stage. V. NATIONAL MEDICINAL PLANTS BOARD Observations/ Recommendation 1.10 The Committee takes note of the major findings of the study of the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), Dehradun entailing the total commercial demand of herbal raw drugs, exports of such drugs, consumption by domestic herbal industry as well as rural households. The Committee believes that our country has a vast bio-diversity of medicinal plants which can be put to great use by the Indian systems of medicine if there is proper system in place for its production, procurement and marketing. The Committee would also like the Ministry to establish effective forward and backward linkages to protect, sustain and encourage production of medicinal plants in a sustainable and non-exploitative manner so that there is no distortion between demand and supply. (para 5.6) 1.11 National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB) is coordinating the Medicinal Plants Component under National AYUSH Mission (NAM) Scheme of Ministry of AYUSH for identified species of

10 medicinal plants including Rare, Endangered & Threatened (RET) species with the backward linkage of establishment of nursery/seed block and forward linkages of post-harvest management like creation of infrastructure (drying shed, storage godown), primary processing, marketing infrastructure (collection centre and retail outlet) and uniform distribution of produce with optimum price fixation to enable good remuneration for farmers / cultivators / collectors. VI. STATUS OF PROGRESS OF SCHEMES IN NORTH EASTERN STATES Observations/ Recommendation 1.12 The Committee has been given to understand that Rs crore has been allocated for schemes of NER for Keeping in view the trend of utilization of funds for schemes of NER in , the Committee wonders whether the Ministry would be able to gainfully utilize the allocated funds. Given the prioritized focus on the area, the Committee is of the view that all out efforts need to be made by the Ministry to utilize the funds in a time bound manner so that the desired health outcomes for this region are achieved. Further, attention should also be given to development of required infrastructure for the Institutes providing healthcare services through OPD. (para 6.6) 1.13 The Committee may note that as per details given in reply to Para No. 6.5 that against a budgetary allocation for of Rs.105 crore for NER which was reduced to Rs crore at RE stage, the actual expenditure was Rs crore which amounts to an almost full utilization of the available budgetary allocations. During , an allocation of Rs crore has been made. For judicious and optimal utilization of these funds, the scheme-wise distribution is as follows: (Rs. in crore) Sl. Name of the Scheme Allocation No. 1 National Medicinal Plant Board North Eastern Institute of Ayurveda Homoeopathy, Shillong North Eastern Institute of AYUSH/Folk Medicine, Passighat Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine Central Council for Research in Yoga & Naturopathy Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy Information, Education and Communication National AYUSH Mission (NAM) Total

11 1.14 This has already been an appreciable movement of expenditure which is Rs crore as on Ministry would make all attempts to fully utilize the funds allotted for NER during IX. ALL INDIA INSTITUTE OF AYURVEDA (AIIA), NEW DELHI Observations/ Recommendation 1.15 The Committee is not happy to see the snail s pace of work relating to operationlization of AIIA. The delay in various aspects relating to operationlization of AIIA is due to delay in handing over the complete building by HSCC to AIIA, delay in completion of work by M/S ITI Ltd. on IT infrastructure, and delay in engaging the manpower through outsourced C&D categories. The Committee is of the view that such inefficiencies are indicative of the fact that the monitoring was lax. Despite the recommendations of the Committee in its previous report regarding putting in place a monitoring mechanism for tracking the progress of work, the Committee finds that the AIIA is yet not complete in all respects. The Committee, strongly recommends that all out efforts may be made for the completion of the works of AIIA to ensure full operationalization of the Institute within three months from the presentation of this Report. Efforts may also be made to fill up faculty as well as non-faculty posts which are crucial for the smooth functioning of the Institute. (para 9.5) 1.16 All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), New Delhi is making all out efforts to make the Institute fully operational shortly. The Institute is taking up the matter with M/s HSCC (I) Ltd. (agency constructed AIIA building) to hand over the complete building to AIIA so that the services/activities could be started at all floors of the Hospital and Academic Blocks. The work related to IT infrastructure is in full swing. The institute is also putting pressure on M/s ITI to complete the entire work of IT infrastructure at the earliest possible time. For the smooth functioning of the Institute, for filling up of the remaining faculty and non-faculty posts for which the Institute has already re-advertised. Besides this, the Institute is very actively in process of engaging other supporting staff related to administration, hospital and finance through outsourced agency. To get the quick response, the Institute is preparing a road map on monitoring mechanism for tracking the progress of work of the institute from all corners by taking weekly meetings with the concerned agencies and higher level staff so that the Institute may be made fully operational at the earliest possible.

12 X. RESEARCH COUNCILS Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy (CCRH) Observations/ Recommendation 1.17 The Committee observes that Homoeopathy is more popular in India than anywhere else in the world. The Committee is, however, of the view that in order to improve the efficacy of Homoeopathy, there is an imperative need for interdisciplinary research that focuses on correlating Homoeopathic concepts of health and treatment with bio-medical concepts. The Committee would therefore like the CCRH to start interdisciplinary research for exploring the scientific basis of homoeopathy concepts of health and treatment. (para 10.8) 1.18 The observations of the committee that Homoeopathy is very popular in India and many other parts of world is very true and there is a need to undertake interdisciplinary research to enrich the scientific base of Homoeopathy. Considering this, Council has initiated collaborative research programme to systematically undertake interdisciplinary research projects since In this program, proposals are invited from interested Scientists/ Institutes of repute and provided with all the technical and financial support in a transparent manner. In fact a special committee for interdisciplinary research having eminent scientists from IIT Mumbai, IIEST Kolkata, Bose institute, ICMR, AIIMS, New Delhi and many other institutions has been constituted to give an adequate push to this research Studies are undertaken keeping in view the two objectives: to enrich the scientific base of homoeopathy and to improve its application in clinical practice, development of new drugs for emerging health challenges. Studies are aimed to understand the biological effect of homeopathic medicines; animal experimentation to assess anti-viral properties; physiochemical studies; standardization and optimization of the process of drug manufacturing and to know the presence of nanoparticles in these medicines. The focus is to elucidate the the nature of Homoeopathic medicines in physiochemical dimensions so that standardization can be done and the theories/ concepts of homeopathy can remain intact while applying the modern approach to the studies. Till date Council has collaborated with various reputed institutes like Bose Institute (Kolkata), Central Drug Research Institute (Lucknow), Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER, Pondicherry), All India Institute of Medical Sciences (New Delhi), University of Madras (Chennai), Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (Hyderabad), Panjab University, Indian Institute of Technology (Delhi)etc. and has had 30 National and 03 International collaborations. 33 projects have been concluded in this field and 15 are ongoing.

13 1.20 So far through these collaborations we are able to understand preventive effect of Belladonna on Japanese Encephalitis, molecular level understanding of anti-diabetic effect of few homeopathic preparations, inhibitory effect of potentised medicines in kidney stone formation, mechanism of apoptotic effect of medicines in Cancer cells by certain drugs, Lycopodium in improving the memory function, presence of nanoparticles in Homoeopathic potencies, understanding the physicochemical nature of Homoeopathic medicines etc Presently, studies for development of medicines for prevention/ treatment of Dengue, Chickungunya, Rota virus, Acute encephalitis syndrome, Malaria, etc. are being undertaken. Studies to understand the immune modulation in human by the homoeopathic medicines is also in progress. More studies on other priority areas are under consideration beside this state of art of laboratories are being established at Kolkata, and Mumbai for nurturing scientists to undertake studies in this nascent field. PhD program and fellowship scheme has been introduced this year to give impetus to interdisciplinary research. CHAPTER- II RECOMMENDATIONS/OBSERVATIONS WHICH THE COMMITTEE DOES NOT DESIRE TO PURSUE IN VIEW OF THE GOVERNMENT S REPLIES Observations/ Recommendation II. Budgetary Allocation 2.1 The Committee is concerned about the trend of under-utilization of funds due to non-filling up of posts, pending UCs and non-receipt of sufficient and viable number of proposals for schemes. The Committee is of the view that non-filling of posts and pending UCs are routine challenges which could have been tackled had the Ministry pursued them in a sustained manner. The Committee would, therefore, recommend to the Ministry to adopt an aggressive approach to fill up the vacant posts so that funds are put to productive use. As regards not receiving viable proposals under the schemes of Development of Common Facilities for AYUSH Industry Clusters and AYUSH and Public Health, the Committee is of the considered view that concerted efforts are required to be taken to popularize the scheme and its salient features so as to generate awareness amongst the concerned stakeholders who would then submit viable proposals. The Committee, therefore, recommends that appropriate steps be taken to speed up the process of implementation of these schemes and arrest this trend and take up the issue of underutilization of funds with the concerned agencies. (Para (2.12)

14 Action taken National Institutes 2.2 During the year , the reasons for under utilization of funds were due to non-filling up of posts approved by the Department of Expenditure, starting of various services required for making the hospital of the Institute fully functional. Recently, Ministry of AYUSH has also approved 178 posts of para medical/administrative staff etc. to be hired through outsourcing basis to make the Institute fully functional CoE Scheme 2.3 Three UCs amounting to Rs lakh have been accepted and liquidated. Other pending UCs are in process of acceptance. In order to popularize the scheme amongst the concerned stakeholders, the scheme guidelines were revised w.e.f Further, a slight change in guidelines was done w.e.f AYUSH Industry Cluster 2.4 No UC is pending. This scheme has been discontinued from April, III. REGULATION AND QUALITY CONTROL OF AYURVEDIC, SIDDHA, UNANI AND HOMOEOPATHIC (ASU&H) Drugs Observations/ Recommendation 2.5 The Committee observes that as per the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1946, and Rules made thereunder, the quality control and regulation of AYUSH remedies primarily fall in the domain of State / UT Governments. However, the State Drug Regulatory Framework is very weak and State Drug Licensing Authorities are ill-equipped to handle the task of regulation of AYUSH remedies. During 2016, the Ministry has given Rs crore as grant-in-aid to the States for strengthening their quality enforcement mechanism. The Committee observes that a large part of the population uses AYUSH remedies as treatment of their choice. The Committee is therefore, of the opinion that the limit of financial assistance to States needs to be increased significantly. (Para 3.5) Action taken 2.6 In the 12 th Five Year Plan, the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Drugs Quality Control has been merged into the National AYUSH Mission (NAM) through which 28 States have been supported in accordance their State Action Plans for the following purposes i) Strengthening of ASU&H Pharmacies of State Government/Co-operatives/Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs). ii) Strengthening/establishment of State Drug Testing Laboratories. iii) Strengthening of ASU&H Drug Control Framework. iv) Engagement of technical manpower in State Drug Testing Laboratories v) Documentation, publication and dissemination of quality control materials. vi) Support for quality testing of drugs.

15 2.7 For continuation of National AYUSH Mission, external evaluation of National AYUSH Mission components including Drugs Quality Control is on the anvil. Recommendation of the PSC has been noted and during the appraisal and analysis process of the NAM implementation, appropriate enhancement of funding pattern and schematic guidelines may also be considered. Observations/ Recommendation 2.8 The Committee observes that there are only 29 Drug Laboratories and 46 Pharmacies available in the public sector in the States for testing and manufacturing of ASU&H drugs. 6 States did not have any manufacturing unit. The Committee is of the view that given the huge size and needs of AYUSH sector, there is a need to increase the number of Drug testing Laboratories and Pharmacies in the country. There should be more than one Drug Testing Laboratories in big States and at least one each in smaller States. Similarly, there should be many more ASU&H manufacturing units in the country. Special attention needs to be given to the 6 States which do not have a single manufacturing unit. (Para 3.9) 2.9 Normally grants are being released as per State Annual Action Plans (SAAP) under National AYUSH Mission. Six states namely Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep did not submit proposal to seek grant-in-aid as per scheme guidelines for all the components of Drugs Quality Control. There is no binding in the NAM scheme for not supporting more than one Pharmacy or Drugs Testing Laboratory in a state. It is prerogative of the States to set up ASU&H drugs manufacturing units and laboratories and apply for grants for these projects. Recommendation of the Hon ble PSC in this regard will be placed for consideration of Mission Directorate of National AYUSH Mission and also conveyed to the respective states. Observations/ Recommendation 2.10 The Committee welcomes the signing of MoU with the Advertising Standards Council of India for suo moto monitoring of misleading advertisements and hopes that defaulters would be brought to book and appropriate action taken against them. The Committee would like to be apprised of the efficacy of the new monitoring mechanism. (Para 3.16) 2.11 On 20th January, 2017 Ministry of AYUSH signed an MoU with Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) to undertake comprehensive monitoring of misleading advertisements pertaining to AYUSH medicines, treatments and related services in print & TV media. It is informed that ASCI referred 263 complaints of allegedly AYUSH products related advertisements since January, Such complaints of 381 advertisements are also registered online till 16th March, 2017 in the Grievances Against Misleading Advertisements (GAMA) portal maintained by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution. ASCI after examination of the

16 complaints and instances of misleading advertisements or exaggerated claims forward the same to the respective State Regulators for legal action and also inform the Ministry of AYUSH. This mechanism has helped to encourage self regulation of advertisements and ASCI reported that many advertisers on being pointed out for their inappropriate advertisements have either withdrawn the advertisement or rectified the advertisement contents The Ministry has also written more than 200 letters to the States. Efforts are being done to have State-wise nodal officers and do this work electronically as well, to reduce time. V. NATIONAL MEDICINAL PLANTS BOARD Observations/ Recommendation 2.13 The Committee takes note of 588 pending UCs amounting to Rs crore with respect to Central Sector Schemes of NMPB. For the Centrally Sponsored Schemes of NMPB, 28 UCs are pending amounting Rs crore. These UCs are pending from the year to The Committee is of the view that pending UCs need to be liquidated as they block the further release of funds which in turn disrupts the whole chain of production of medicinal plants, its procurement and use of such plants to develop medicines for the benefit of the people. The Committee, therefore, recommends that concerted efforts should be made for liquidation of pending UCs and the issue needs to be taken up with the concerned State Governments at the highest level. (Para 5.9) 2.14 The State-wise Nodal officers appointed by NMPB have been directed to liaison the respective State Authorities (at the high level) to take-up the matter of liquidation of pending UCs on urgent basis. Observations/ Recommendation 2.15 The Committee observes that the Expenditure Finance Committee had agreed in principle to increase the sanctioned strength in 2014 and the proposal for creation of 65 new posts was under process. Further, out of 16 sanctioned posts, only 10 posts were filled up while 5 posts were being managed either on loan or contractual basis. The Committee believes that the temporary and adhoc measures of filling posts on loan or contractual basis is not a healthy trend though a stop gap arrangement. The Committee notes the small strength of manpower of the NMPB and feels that this certainly needs to be increased so that the important mandate of the Board is not jeopardised due to this. The Committee, therefore, recommends that the creation of 65 new posts be finalized within a period of three months from the presentation of this Report. (Para 5.11) 2.16 The finalization of proposal for creation of 65 number of new posts is under active process and will be complied at the earliest

17 Observations/ Recommendation 2.17 It is worrisome to note that the SMPBs are weak and dysfunctional bodies which are not suitable to carry out the mandate envisaged by the NMPBs. Despite grants from NMPB to the SMPBs, the SMPBs still suffer from staff shortage, and only 8 States SMPBs were functioning with a CEO. The Committee recommends that the Ministry should impress upon the State / UT Governments the imperative need to strengthen and turn them into robust structures that the SMPBs need to. The Committee also recommends that the Ministry should interact with other States still not having full-fledged body and encourage them to carry out necessary reforms to have full-fledged SMPBS. (Para 5.13) 2.18 In order to strengthen the SMPBs, DO letters from CEO, NMPB to Principal Secretaries / Secretaries / Commissioners of the concerned states have been sent for appointing a regular CEO and necessary staff support along with other infrastructure facilities. Annual review meeting and periodic meetings with State Medicinal Plants Boards (SMPBs) are also being organized to activate the functioning of SMPBs. VI. STATUS OF PROGRESS OF SCHEMES IN NORTH EASTERN STATES Observations/ Recommendation 2.19 The Ministry has also furnished details about the funds released during under various schemes of NE alongwith actual expenditure:- (Rs. in crore) Name of the Scheme BE AE (Up to ) National Medicinal Plant Board North Eastern Institute of Ayurveda & Homoeopathy, Shillong North Eastern Institute of AYUSH/Folk Medicine, Passighat Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine Central Council for Research in Yoga & Naturopathy Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy Centre of Excellence Information, Education and Communication National AYUSH Mission Total The Committee observes underutilizat ion of funds from the

18 table above entailing the status of budgetary allocation and the actual for the year upto 31/01/17 with respect to various schemes of NER. Out of the total allocation of Rs crore for schemes in NER in , only Rs crore has been utilized. It suggests that only around 50 % of the funds allocated for the schemes of NE region have been utilized leaving around 50% to be expended in the last two months of Financial Year Gross underutilization of funds has been witnessed for the schemes like National Medicinal Plant Board, Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences and Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy and nil utilization for schemes like Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine, Center of Excellence and Information, Education and Communications. The Committee believes that these instances of gross under-utilization could have been minimized had budgetary controls like sound internal audit mechanism and periodic monitoring of the trend of expenditure had been exercised. The Committee recommends that the exact reasons for the under-utilization of the budgeted funds may be found out and corrective action taken accordingly. (Para 6.4 & 6.5) 2.21 The Budget Estimates (BE), Revised Estimates (RE), Final Estimates (FE) and Actual Expenditure during the year in respect of NER is as follows: (Rs. in crore) Name of the Scheme BE RE FE Actuals National Medicinal Plants Board North Eastern Institute of AYUSH/Folk Medicine, Passighat North Eastern Institute of Ayurveda & Homoeopathy, Shillong Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine Central Council for Research in Yoga & Naturopathy Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy Centre of Excellence Information, Education and Communication National AYUSH Mission Total From the above, it can be seen that the actual expenditure is about 98.0% of BE and 99.9% of RE Thus, there is no under utilization of funds.

19 VII. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF AYURVEDA (NIA) Observations/ Recommendation 2.23 The Committee is constrained to note several vacant posts in NIA. Out of 287 sanctioned posts, 125 are lying vacant. Several faculty posts are also vacant as they have been re-notified due to amendments in Recruitment Rules. The Committee would like to remind the Ministry that it had been recommending to expedite the process of recruitment for the last two years in its Reports. The Committee would like to point out that vacant posts would affect the quality of treatment, research and teaching in the Institute. Concerted efforts must be made to fill up the vacant posts without any further delay. The Committee desires to be kept apprised of the progress made towards filling the vacant posts. (Para 7.4) 2.24 Progress made to fill up vacant Teaching Posts: The Institute has a total sanctioned strength of 95 Teaching Posts in different categories (Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor and Lecturer) out of which 59 are filled and 36 are lying vacant. Out of 36 vacancies, 27 vacancies have already been notified on All India basis and the last date was Scrutiny of the applications received is being done. A Screening Test will be conducted to shortlist the candidates to the required number for Interview after which Selection Committees will meet to interview and select the candidates to all these 27 posts together. It is expected that these posts will be filled up in 2-3 months time. The remaining 9 vacant Teaching posts includes 1 post of Professor and 7 posts of Associate Professor which are to be filled by Promotion for which no incumbent teachers with the required length of service or category (like SC or ST) are available who can be considered for promotion to these posts. Efforts will be made to fill up such posts by way of deputation/ contractual appointments. In any way, all efforts will be made to fill up almost all the posts very soon. 1 posts of Lecturer fell vacant only in February and this will be notified soon for Direct Recruitment Non-Teaching Posts: The Institute is in the process of filling up of around 50 posts of Group-B/C on regular basis by direct recruitment very soon. Notification of these vacancies will be published very shortly. The Institute has already deployed sufficient number of persons by outsourcing against a number of Group-C and MTS posts and various works are managed smoothly and without affecting quality of work relalting to Academic, Hospital Services, Pharmacy, Offices etc. VIII. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HOMOEOPATHY, KOLKATA Observations/ Recommendation 2.26 The Committee observes that utilization trend for NIH for and has not been satisfactory. Reasons given for under-utilization of funds by the Ministry are unspent

20 balances of previous years and vacant posts. The Committee is of the firm view that the underutilization of funds is not a healthy trend. It indicates that financial norms are not being followed and this adversely impacts the accomplishment of targets. The Committee, therefore, feels that the Ministry should make liable the autonomous bodies under it to adhere to financial norms and act responsibly while utilizing funds so that unspent balances are not left at the end of the financial year. Further, the Committee has been reiterating in successive reports on the issue of filling up of vacant posts. Vacant posts do not only mean unspent balances but also defeat the objectives of the Institute to promote and develop Homoeopathy. The Committee, therefore, desires to be apprised of the updated status of filling up of the vacant post at NIH. (Para 8.4) 2.27 The budget allocation and utilization of funds for the year and is as follows: (Rs. in crore) BE RE AE BE RE AE Plan Non-Plan From the above, It can be seen that the actual Plan expenditure for the year and is 81.25% and 100% of RE and Non-Plan is 100% in both the years The vacancies in respect of teaching posts of the Institute have been published in January, 2017 and subsequently in February, 2017 so that these can been filled. X. RESEARCH COUNCILS Observations/ Recommendation 2.30 While examining the financial performance of the five Research Councils during , Committee notes that there is significant absence of correlation between BE, RE and Actual Expenditure of CCRAS, CCRUM and CCRH. The BE of Rs crore of CCRAS was reduced to Rs crore at RE stage but the amount spent as on 31/01/2017 is only Rs crore. Similarly, the BE of Rs crore and Rs crore in respect of CCRUM and CCRH was reduced to Rs crore and Rs crore respectively at the RE stage and the amount expended as on 3/01/2017 is Rs crore in respect of CCRUM and Rs crore in respect of CCRH. Since only two months are left and not more than 33% can be spent during the last quarter of the financial year, savings are certain to occur under these heads. The Committee would, therefore, recommend that the Ministry should impress upon the Research Councils to exercise due diligence in their budget formulation so that there are no instances of blocking of scarce resources deployable elsewhere. (Para 10.3)

21 2.31 The budget allocation and actual expenditure of the Councils for the year is as given below: 2.32 Name of the Council BE RE FE AE Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences Council for Research in Unani Medicine Council for Research in Yoga & Naturopathy Council for Research in Homoeopathy Council for Research in Siddha (Rs. in crore) It is submitted that the scare resources have been judiciously utilized to ensure full and complete usage as allocated in the Final Estimates (FE) and the balance amount deployed to meet urgent requirements in other sectors It may be mentioned that the total requirement of funds at the RE stage was Rs crore to meet urgent requirement in respect of the newly approved Institutions. But the Ministry of Finance allocated Rs crore against BE of Rs crore which in fact amounted to reducing the available budgetary allocation. To meet the urgent requirement of the new Institutions, funds were transferred from other schemes including the Councils and hence the FE figures were much lesser than the RE figures in respect of some of the Councils. Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine (CCRUM) Observations/ Recommendation 2.34 The Committee notes that CCRUM has filed only 5 patents during the 12th Five Year Plan which is indicative of the poor research output. The Committee desires the Ministry to strive to substantially increase the number of patent filings. (Para 10.10) 2.35 CCRUM has filed provisional patent for five drugs through National Research Development Corporation during Earlier the Council has been awarded patents for eight drugs during As per new guidelines of IPR in respect of Ayurveda and Unani drugs any drug or their any ingredients whose references are available in the classical books cannot be granted for patent. Because of this hurdle, a number of provisional patent drugs filled by the Council prior to 2012 were denied patent rights. The guidelines for IPR need to be reviewed. Central Council for Research in Yoga and Naturopathy

22 Observations/ Recommendation 2.36 The Committee desires to be apprised of the targetted outcomes of the three Research Projects of CCRYN which are to be started in (Para 10.12) Targeted outcome/ Objectives of the scheme To conduct total 15 Research projects in 5 years of collaboration. To publish minimum 5 research papers in a reputed Journal in a span of 5 years. Name of the Collaborating Organization National Institute of Mental Health & Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Hosur Road, Bangalore , Karnataka. Defence Institute of Physiology & Allied Sciences (DIPAS), Lucknow Road, Timarpur, Delhi King George's Medical University Shah Mina Road, Chowk, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh Status Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed and the scheme has been initiated. Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed and the scheme has been initiated. Awaiting for signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) Accreditation through National Accreditation Board for Hospital and Healthcare providers (NABH) Observations/ Recommendation 2.37 The Committee feels that accreditation through National Accreditation Board for Hospital and Health care providers (NABH) is a much needed and much-awaited step in increasing the credibility of Research Councils. Now that CCRAS has identified its institutions for accreditation and working towards it, the Committee would like the Research Councils of Ayurveda, Homoeopathy, Siddha and Unani to accelerate the process of accreditation of the institutions under them. An early action in this regard would help promote AYUSH drugs and therapies. (Para 10.16) CCRAS

23 2.38 The process for GAP analysis of five identified CCRAS Institutes namely RARIUD, Jammu; RARISD, Vijayawada; CARIDD, Kolkata; CARINMSD, Cheruthuruthy and CARIHD, Bhubaneswar has been initiated for obtaining NABH accreditation. CCRUM 2.39 The Council has initiated process for accreditation of hospitals attached to six centres viz., Central Research Institute of Unani Medicine (CRIUM), Hyderabad & Lucknow, Regional Research Institute of Unani Medicine (RRIUMs), Chennai, Bhadrak, Patna and Srinagar. Requirements for accreditation have been identified and caps are being filled. CCRH 2.40 The 1 st edition of the standards for National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH) accreditation of Homoeopathy Hospitals were existing since However, the need was felt to revise these standards. Accordingly, NABH involved the CCRH wherein Council actively contributed to revised publication of 2 nd edition of the standards and guidelines for NABH accreditation of Homoeopathy Hospitals Also as per the directions of Ministry of AYUSH, the institutes and units under the Council are to be NABH accredited for which the following initiatives have been undertaken: The Council has provided training and orientation for NABH standards to institute s scientists working in different centers having IPD facility on 2 nd -4 th Sep.2016 and 9 th - 11 th Dec at Delhi and Kottayam respectively. The proposals for achieving NABH accreditation are being developed at CRI (H), Noida; CRI (H), Kottayam and RRI (H), Gudivada. The documentation work consisting of preparation of manuals has also been initiated. The gaps between the requirements and existing infrastructure have been identified and the Council is working towards it so that thje application for Accreditation to NABH may be submitted at the earliest. CHAPETER III RECOMMENDATIONS/OBSERVATIONS IN RESPECT OF WHICH REPLIES OF THE GOVERNMENT HAVE NOT BEEN ACCEPTED BY THE COMMITTEE II. BUDGET ALLOCATION Observations / Recommendation 3.1 The Committee s attention has also been drawn to the achievement of physical targets by the Ministry during the 12 th Plan period. By and large, the Ministry has tried to accomplish the

24 target set during the 12 th Five Year Plan. Ministry s achievements with respect to schemes / institutions like Rashtriya Ayurveda Vidyapeeth, New Delhi, National Institute of Siddha, NIUM, Bangalore, MDNIY, New Delhi, Ayurvedic Mobile Health care Programme under SCSP, Pharmacopoeial Laboratory of Indian Medicine, Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia Laboratory and National AYUSH Mission (NAM) are praiseworthy. However, there have been important schemes where targets have not been met. Details of these schemes are as follows:- Name of Scheme Target for 12 th Five Year Plan Achievements All India Institute of Ayurveda To recruit staff, Registration of AIIA under Society Act, 1860, Procurement of medical equipments and ancillary services and furniture. All India Institute Establishment of the Institute Land has been identified. of Yoga All India Institute of Homoeopathy Establishment of the Institute Cabinet approval awaited All India Institute Establishment of the Institute Agreement between Project of Unani Management Consultant Medicine (PMC) and Ministry of National Institute of Homoeopathy, Kolkata Introduction of new subject in PG course in Psychiatry, Introduction of Diploma / Degree course in Homoeopathy Pharmacy AYUSH signed. Not yet materialized. North Eastern Institute of Ayurveda and Homoeopathy, Shillong North Eastern Institute of Folk Medicine, Pasighat National Institute of Medicinal Plants National Institute of Sowa-Rigpa Central Council for Research in Yoga and Starting of Panchakarma Assistant one year course. Starting of construction of phase II of the following:- UG hostel for boys (G+3 floor) UG hostel for girls (G+3 floor) Senior resident hostel (G+3 floor) Type III quarter (G+3 floor) Type IV quarter (G+3 floor) Director s bungalow(g+3 floor) Guest house cum commercial complex (G+3 floor) Creation of posts Identification of location Drawing up of DPR Institution of work Under process DPR for phase II submitted by the consulting agency and approval from Ministry is awaited. Created posts were advertised on deputation basis but no suitable candidate was found. Matter of setting up of NIMP under consideration of the Ministry of AYUSH. To establish institute Standing Finance Committee Memo circulated for comments. Establishment of CRI of Yoga and Naturopathy CRIYN, Jhajjar, and CRIYN, Nagamangala, Karnataka have been upgraded to Post Graudate

25 Naturopathy Institute of Yoga and Naturopathy Education and Research and construction of building for setting up of these PG institutes are in full swing. CRIYN,Bhubaneshwar construction assigned to CPWD but some resistance from local people; steps are being taken to resolve the issues. Extra Research Mural Pharmacovigilance initiative for ASU drugs Central Drug Controller for AYUSH Publication of 84 Research Project papers to encourage research on classical texts and investigate fundamental principles of AYUSH system. New Scheme yet to be approved. Research project papers published in reported journals. 3.2 The Committee is constrained to observe that physical targets set for the 12th Five Year Plan with respect to the schemes listed above have not been achieved. This is mainly due to incomplete work in projects due to procedural delays leading to delay in construction activities. This obviously leads to time and cost overruns in the long run. Time lines for completion of these procedural processes must be set and efforts need to be made to adhere to them for timely completion of projects. Other reasons for non-accomplishment of targets with respect to schemes were non-filling up of vacancies and incomplete research projects and publication of research papers. Two schemes of Pharmacovigilance Initiative for ASU drugs and Central Drug Controller for AYUSH are yet to be approved. With no dearth of funds, the Ministry could have easily achieved the set targets had it done proper planning and implementation. The Committee, therefore, recommends the Ministry to be more vigilant about the physical as well as financial targets set so that they are achieved within the specified time period. A proper mechanism for monitoring at various levels and addressing pending issues pertaining to conceptualization can be devised for timely completion of projects, starting off new schemes etc. (Para 2.4 & 2.5) Action taken 3.3 The status on achievements of various physical targets set for 12 th Plan is detailed below: (i) In Extra Mural Research, a target of publication of 84 Research Project papers was fixed for 12 th Five Year Plan and we have managed to publish around 70 Research Papers in 12 th Five Year Plan. The target could not be achieved because of the guideline under the scheme which stipulated that the publication may be done only after completion of project. Recently, the policy regarding publication has been revised under EMR Scheme to encourage the Principal Investigators to