Ayurveda- The way to reach masses for health care- The time has come to include it in our health insurance Policies

According to Sam Pitroda, Adviser to the Prime Minister of India, “Taking healthcare to the masses will be India’s biggest challenge in the next two decades, and the ancient medicinal system of Ayurveda is the only reliable way of doing so. We can’t adopt the western model- the five-star culture of health delivery system. Health care has to reach the masses,” Sam Pitroda is also chairman of the National Innovation Council, and he made the above mentioned comment while inaugurating Institute of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine (I-AIM) in Bangalore in March 2011.


Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata inaugurated the 100-bed healthcare centre that aims to integrate traditional medicine with modern health science. The centre is wholly supported by Tata Trusts (Mumbai), the group’s philanthropic arm.

In my various blogs I have covered the point that inclusion or Ayurveda in coverage of health insurance polices at the earliest is desirable. There is some progress in this regard but lot more needs to be done.

When names of Ratan Tata & Pitroda are associated with Ayurveda – what more justification is needed by our insurance companies for inclusion of Ayurveda, as a system to be covered in health insurance policies?

Sam Pitroda, Ratan Tata, Institute of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine (I-AIM), Ayurveda