There is a strong link between the way AYUSH education is managed today and the rampant cross pathy by several institutionally qualified AYUSH vaidyas in private practice in India.
In olden days, the son or daughter of a village Vaidya would spent their life with their father, assist him, observe the way he diagnose and treat patients, the way he prepare AYUSH recipes, the instructions he offers to the patient, the confidence that he infuse upon the patient and his or her family members, the special spiritual rituals advised to follow etc., and that how the next generation has learned AYUSH. With time the son or daughter would get inspired by the vaidya father and would decide to take over the legacy with passion, commitment to service the community, desire to take up the traditional way of holistic healing practice and love for Siddha/Ayurveda paramedical health practice. That is how both Siddha and Ayurveda have continuously grown in the past, newer and newer recipes were added into the kitty. But post-independence the scenario got changed totally.
The AYUSH experts wanted the government to adopt western style of educational system for AYUSH through cut/copy and paste the method/style of MBBS education system. This method has cut the very root of AYUSH culture and its sacredness and alienated the ever growing AYUSH and the intuition of the vaidya to institution from experience and observation and reduced the system to the recipes of several herbal, mineral, toxic metal and their combinations.
Even the fundamentals of AYUSH such as Tridosha and eight types of diagnosis along with taste parameters etc., most of the present generation AYUSH vaidyas are not using or are not well versed with.
Contrary to the traditional vaidyas, the most of the present day institutionally qualified AYUSH vaidyas have chosen either Siddha or Ayurveda mostly because they could not secure admission for MBBS course. In order to fulfil the unmet desire to become a doctor, they have chosen AYUSH course. When we produce such vaidyas through institution naturally they will be interested only to fulfill their inner desire to act like a doctor and that is why most of the AYUSH vaidyas in private practice have neglected the subject that they have studied for 5 or more years and find fancy to use stethoscope, BP apparatus etc., and engage in rampant cross pathy.
Our present day style of AYUSH education has produced large number of AYUSH vaidyas without any passion or interest or expertise in AYUSH but with the title ‘doctor’ many institutionally qualified vaidyas in private practice amok the health care system and obliterate the essence of AYUSH through cross pathy.
Several Siddha vaidyas in private practice in Chennai and other parts of Tamil Nadu through cross pathy have destroyed the relevance of the system.
AYUSH vaidyas need commitment and passion for humanity, AYUSH vaidyas need sense of responsibility and divine faith, AYUSH vaidyas must focus on promoting wellness and paramedical benefit through AYUSH recipes instead of attempting to imitate like MBBS doctor through cross pathy.
AYUSH education must be re-structured and those who join for the course must be trained in traditional line of thinking and not in modern line of thinking to understand the sacredness of AYUSH.
Siddha and Ayurveda are way of life and not medical science. Therefore the paramedical benefits of AYUSH must be fortified and AYUSH vaidyas in private practice must be engaged for various paramedical therapies and allied health care awareness and delivery programmes. Village level health and hygiene awareness sensitization programme must be initiated regularly and the local AYUSH vaidyas in private practice can be engaged for achieving such tasks.
Cross pathy must be dealt severely and only when cross pathy is stopped by a strong law, AYUSH become relevant and useful to humanity. Otherwise some AYUSH vaidyas in private practice would treat patients with acetaminophen and antibiotics and simultaneously talk so great about AYUSH to the patient proving nothing but hypocrisy and lie. Several patients who have undergone treatment with some Siddha vaidyas have started to disbelief siddha products when the siddha vaidya prescribed proven antidiabetic drugs of allopathic system. Cross pathy has made unnecessary comparison between allopathic drugs and Siddha recipes. Siddha recipes are meant for offering wellness and paramedical benefit and are different from allopathic drugs. But the use of AYUSH as burka to practice allopathy has eroded the credibility of AYUSH.
Although changing the educational system of AYUSH may be futuristic but unless harsh law is enacted to punish all those offenders who engage in cross pathy, we cannot make AYUSH promotion meaningful. The Ministry of AYUSH shall remain only as sixth finger with no impact or contribution. Cross pathy should not be allowed to destroy AYUSH tradition in India. AYUSH way of life, India must re-invent soon.
