September 16, 2020
Santanu Sen speaks on The Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda Bill, 2020
FULL TRANSCRIPT
It’s really good to see everyone wearing a mask in this august House. As we recall, in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the members of the All India Trinamool Congress were wearing masks, we were asked to remove them by the Chair. Now I am standing here amongst all wearing a mask.Thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak on this Bill.
Sir, by now because of several delayed, untimely, arrogant and whimsical steps of our government, the people of this country are already having a question in their minds whether this government really has any intention of taking care of the health of the country and that of the healthcare institutions because, had it been so, we would not have seen India competing with America to become the country with the highest number of COVID-19 cases.
Speaking about this Bill, I would like to highlight certain important points. To me this government only believes in centralisation of power, which has been repeatedly proven by the several Ordinances and Bills passed in this House and again it has become evident from clause 8(1) of this Bill which says that the president of this proposed institution would be nominated by the Government of India and thus, once again this government will try to run the show which will hamper people.
Sir, I believe that this government hardly cares about the federal structure of the country and it is competent enough in depriving several States of their rights. It seems that the government believes that Gujarat is the whole country and I thank god it is not so, and that’s why we are still surviving.
Sir, let me give an example of deprivation of States. There is an ayurveda college in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala which was founded in 1889. I would humbly request you to visit it and I am sure after visiting the institution, you will be extremely disheartened by the present scenario there.
In our state of West Bengal, ayurveda was thriving like anything. In the 19th century, two institutions were born, in Kumartuli and Murshidabad, and there is another one—perhaps one of the oldest ayurvedic medical colleges—that is, JB Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital, which was founded in 1916. It is also not in a very good state. There is another institution in the State, the National University of Bengal Gourio Swarga Vidyananda, which was a symbol of our freedom struggle. It was founded in 1921, as part of the Non-cooperation Movement. This is also in a very poor state.
Sir, as we know, AYUSH also looks after homoeopathy. If you go to Kolkata to see the scenario at the National Institute of Homeopathy, which is situated in Salt Lake, you will be extremely shocked and upset at the present condition there.
Aar koto Bangla-r bonchona hobe? Bangla-te etogulo ayurved medical college, etogulo national importance er institution ache othocho Bangla shob shomoy bonchito hoche. Bangla COVID-er jonno taka pachchhe na, Cyclone Amphan-er jonno taka pachchhe na. Mamaya Bandyopadhyay appeal korar poreo eksho tippano hazar koti taka, jeta amader due ache, samanyo shetao amra pachchhi na. [Bengali]
It is obvious that our present government does not promote the existing students so that they can perform better but surprisingly, out of their arrogance, they are trying to ensure that the baby which is still in the womb of the mother, will become an Albert Einstein in the future. This is very surprising.
Sir, I believe, and I think the House also believes, that an institute of national importance can only be declared and registered as such based on its deeds and performances and not just on the will of the government. I believe this government is absolutely in a state of inconsistency, contradiction and dichotomy, and it only generates, operates on and propagates confusion.
This Bill completely contradicts para 20.5 of the National Education Policy of the same government. In the said para of the National Education Policy, it is said that within 2030, there will be complete ‘mixopathy’—no individual system of medicine will exist any more.
The Indian Medical Association has been fighting against this mixopathy because it is nothing but a promotion of quackery. On the contrary, in this Bill, our government is promoting a separate system of medicine, that is, ayurveda, which is absolutely self-contradictory.
Sir, it is being heard in certain places that all this is because of a certain business tycoon close to our government, who is probably sponsoring the same. Regarding this Bill of our government, it is absolutely of the contradiction, for the contradiction and by the contradiction. I suggest this ayurvedic institute of national importance <interruption>
