A clear reading of the Ayurveda surgery move

November 27, 2020 12:02 am | Updated 01:46 pm IST In 2014, while speaking at the inauguration of a hospital in Mumbai, Prime Minister Narendra Modi extolled the virtues of India’s medical heritage. Response to notification Last week, on November 20, a Gazette of India notification by the Central Council of Indian Medicine — a statutory body under the Indian Medicine Central Council Act, and “which regulates the Indian Medical systems of Ayurveda, Siddha, Sowa-Rigpa and Unani Medicine” — identifying surgical procedures that can be performed by post-graduate Ayurvedic doctors in Shalya has stirred up a hornet’s nest. After Independence, the Indian state was faced with the difficult task of accommodating both the ascendant modern medicine brought in by the British and India’s traditional systems of medicine, notably Ayurveda. A procedure called ‘Kshar Sutra’ used for anal fistula was described in Ayurveda texts and has been incorporated in modern medicine. Procedures and complexities The controversial notification, issued on November 20 — called the Indian Medicine Central Council Amendment Regulations, 2020 — by the Central Council of Indian Medicine authorises an MS Shalya Tantra, or General Surgery postgraduate degree holder on completion of his course to perform 58 surgical procedures.