Day 5 Update: FIRST HUMANS-THEN FAUJIS

Update about "INCLUDE AYURVEDA" Petition-16th June

Good Morning!

First of all, THANKS TO EACH ONE OF YOU who has signed onto this petition and who are actively spreading word in their community of like-minded people- those who:

i. care for the healthcare needs of Indian defence personnel and their families, and
ii.care for the future of Ayurveda and are not willing to tolerate negative bias towards Ayurveda any more in the country of its origin and primary practice

Yesterday, we reached out to representatives of the armed forces, including an eminent and venerable retired Lt. General who is connected with ex-servicemen matters for many years. Almost uniformly the ludicrousness of the position taken by the AFMS has been expressed. It so happened that some 5 years back after this senior army officer had undergone in-patient Ayurveda treatment the benefit that he obtained at a body and mind (leaving out the spirit) level was so significant that, on his own volition, he said that he would connect with the concerned army officials in New Delhi and seek to understand how Ayurveda could be included in After some months he called to say that it was impossible to break the prevalent mindset about Ayurveda in Army HQ. And, all that one could think was that one day hopefully the situation would change. IT WILL NOT CHANGE UNLESS WE DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

Another senior army officer commented that a large number of defence personnel retire from active service in their prime- 40s. They have a full life ahead of them in civilian and semi-civilian roles. They are as subject to all the typical health problems like you and me. It is not just tertiary care or emergency medical care but care for day to day problems as well as chronic problems. They have spouses, dependent parents, and children. There is so much scope for Ayurveda to complement what has already been put in place by the armed forces from the modern medicine side.

As one Ayurveda doctor from North India put it: "We have stayed at one of the Army Cantts. during posting and seen that 'faujis' including Officers have a keen faith in Ayurveda. It may not be innumerable no. but substantial nos. take treatment at Ayurveda Centres voluntarily. Also seen same trend at some other cantts. Sometimes they spend a lot of money voluntarily but do not go to well equipped Army Hospitals- whatever reason, we can't ignore their interest in Ayurveda. They are born humans first , became faujis later. Rules are there for their benefit, Ayurveda also is for their benefit like Allopathy. One cant deprive them of their health care potential, that comes without side effects." Absolutely well said by the doctor: "FIRST HUMANS, THEN FAUJIS".

In the coming days you will see this campaign acquire steady momentum. We are in touch with stakeholders across the country and there is an outpouring of commitment to our shared cause. Senior officials of the AYUSH Department are now cognizant of this campaign. Based on this campaign one of the apex Ayurveda organisations AMMOI has already sent their representation to the Defence Minister where they have strongly endorsed the demand to constitute an expert committee that formulates appropriate guidelines for integration of Ayurveda into the Armed Forces Medical system in a time bound fashion.

YOU MUST SPREAD THE WORD. IT IS NOT ENOUGH THAT YOU HAVE SIGNED; FOR THIS PETITION TO SUCCEED I URGE THAT EACH ONE OF YOU PERSONALLY ENROL 50 LIKEMINDED INDIVIDUALS FROM WITHIN & WITHOUT THE AYURVEDA SECTOR.

If you are associated with an Ayurveda educational institution then please form a small group of likeminded people within the institution to evangelise and rally support for this shared cause. Similarly, for those who are associated with the defense sector. Each of you count in this campaign reaching its logical conclusion.

Please act now.

Rajiv Vasudevan
rajiv_vasudevan@ayurvaid.com | +91-9449071992