Union minister of Ayush and ports, shipping and waterways Sarbananda Sonowal on Saturday laid the foundation stone for Ayush Diksha, a first-of-its-kind centre for the development of human resources for Ayush professionals. This state-of-the-art centre will be developed within the campus of Central Ayurveda Research Institute, Bhubaneswar.

Laying the foundation stone, Sonowal said that the Ayush movement had gained a lot of prominence in the last 10 years and they were moving towards an integrated medicine approach where an empowered Ayush system of medicine would also be used along with the modern medicine system.

“The Ayush Diksha centre will enable the Ayush professionals to hone their skills and upscale their dexterity in providing world-class patient care services to the people of the country. It will prove as a catalyst to the powerful Ayush movement and its attempt at global movement towards a healthy and happy life experience,” he said.

The institution will offer training programmes for Ayush professionals, especially those from Ayurveda, as it aims to collaborate with national institutes of prominence for capacity development, strengthening human resources, facilitating research and development, achieving self-sustainability with an objective to generate revenue.

The Ayush Diksha centre is being built with a budget of Rs 30 crore. It will be equipped with state-of-the-art facilities including two auditoriums, 40 modern rooms with all amenities, suites for VIPs, dedicated space for a natural library, discussion rooms, modular kitchen, dining lounge, among other amenities.

The event was also graced by Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi, Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) director-general Prof Vaidya Rabinarayan Acharya, senior officials of the ministry, students and Ayush professionals.

The CARI, Bhubaneswar, is a unit under the CCRAS — an autonomous body under the ministry of Ayush.